Northern Parula amongst old fir by Gays River, May 19.
It builds a nest out of bearded lichen (shown at top right).
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The Northern Parula has become a bit of a poster child for birds displaced by clearcutting in Nova Scotia, highlighted by Healthy Forests advocate Donna Crossland:
I…walked over a fresh clearcut where the birch once stood. The lake would be buffered only by a pitifully thin band of trees to disguise the carnage. Angry thoughts were broken by strangely cheerful songs emanating from the fresh cut edge of forest that was destined to fall on Monday morning when cutting would resume. There, a male northern parula sang its buzzy upward song. Its voice was joined by a singing hermit thrush, and a black-throated green warbler. Their territorial songs indicate there are nests, most likely containing young lives just begun. My heart sank.
