Adult male has bluish head, yellow throat, yellow breast with black and red breast band, twin white eye arcs, green back, bluish wings with two white wing bars, short tail, white belly and undertail coverts, and short, pointy bill with yellow lower mandible. Adult female is similarly plumaged, but with less intense color overall. Immatures lack breastband and are drabber still, but show the same general pattern. In flight, note limited white tail corners. Tropical Parula of South Texas lack eye arcs and lack black on breast band.

Length: 11 (cm) Wingspan: 18 (cm)

Voice:

Song is a distinctive rising buzz that suggests a zipper being pulled upward, often ending with an abrupt final note. Call is a single, loud chip.

Habitat:

Coniferous woodlands, swamps, lakeshores, mixed forests, and riparian areas. During migration and winter, may occur in any forest type, and sometimes joins flocks of other warblers.

Behavior:

Often occupies highest part of canopy; rarely touches the ground. Cup-shaped fibrous nest is typically woven into clumps of Spanish moss or lichens.

Feeding:

Actively gleans foliage, often toward the tips of branches and high in canopy, for a variety of insects, spiders, invertebrates, and other small organisms. Occasionally eats fruit or visits sugar water feeders.