Setophaga americana
Status: Fairly common regular spring migrant east, uncommon east-central, rare casual west-central and west. Uncommon regular breeder east. Uncommon regular fall migrant east, rare casual central and west.
Documentation: Specimen: UNSM ZM6817, 20 Apr 1901 Havelock, Lancaster Co.
Taxonomy: No subspecies are recognized (AviList 2025).
This species and Cerulean Warbler (S. cerulea) are closely related, with similar plumage, song, and behavior, have hybridized, and been considered conspecific (Moldenhauer and Regelski 2020). An Iowa example of a hybrid is at eBird Checklist – 13 May 2017 – Wildcat Den SP). There are no Nebraska records of this hybrid. See Comments, below.
Northern Parula also hybridizes on occasion with Yellow-throated Warbler (S. dominica); there are records for Wyoming and Iowa (eBird.org, accessed Jul 2023).
Spring: Apr 10, 11, 11 <<<>>> summer
Earlier dates are 5 Apr 2026 Trail 9, Indian Cave SP, Richardson Co, and 6 Apr 2026 Hackberry CG, Indian Cave SP, Richardson Co.
Arrival is early, typical of the southern warbler species which breed in Nebraska. There appears to be a small movement up the Missouri River Valley in spring; Northern Parula is a rare migrant as far north as eastern South Dakota (Tallman et al 2002).
There are about 26 reports in the Panhandle from 21 Apr- 3 Jun, six of these in 2026. Fewest are in the west central, probably due to less available habitat there for migrants. There is also a large number of spring records for Colorado along the western Great Plains, despite the breeding range being restricted to the eastern edge of the Plains and eastward.
- High counts: 20-25 at Fontenelle Forest, Sarpy Co 1 May 2008, 20 at Indian Cave SP, Nemaha and Richardson Cos 30 Apr 2011, and 18 at Indian Cave SP, Richardson Co 30 Apr 2026.
Summer: Northern Parula is one of a few southeastern US wood warbler species for which reports are increasing northwest of the traditionally recognized ranges. BBS data 1966-2013 (Sauer et al 2017) show this species increasing in eastern Kansas and extreme southeast Nebraska at >1.5% per year. In Nebraska, in 1919 it was described merely as an “uncommon migrant eastwardly” (Swenk 1919), but it has been reported regularly since the 1960s as a low-density summer resident in large forest tracts in the Missouri River Valley, mostly from Washington Co south but north occasionally to Thurston Co. It occurs primarily in riparian forests, but uses a relatively broad range of woodland types for breeding (Moldenhauer and Regelski 2020) and often occurs in upland areas, especially at Indian Cave SP, Nemaha and Richardson Cos. Its range extends west along the Platte River only to Schramm Park SRA, Sarpy Co, where there are several reports.
The few confirmed breeding records include young being fed in Sarpy Co in 1986 (Bennett 1987), 5 Sep 1991 (Grzybowski 1992) and 20 Aug 2004, and adults were tending a juvenile at Fontenelle Forest 28 Jun 2003 (Silcock 2003). It was “quite common” in Jun 1995, with up to six at Indian Cave SP, Richardson Co. It was first reported as far north as Thurston Co 13 Jun 1998 and nested there in 2006, when a pair was incubating eggs 13 Jun (Huser, Probst; Mollhoff 2022). Mollhoff (2016) showed breeding season reports in the Missouri River Valley in Richardson, Nemaha, Cass, Sarpy, Washington, and Thurston Cos 2006-2011. In May 2025 follow-up surveys for evidence of breeding at Wilderness Park, Lancaster Co documented a singing male on territory in sycamores through 16 Jul that apparently bred successfully, as a juvenile was recorded singing subsong during song learning from an adult male 20 Jun and and an immature male was photographed 4 Jul (Schwartz, Carlini, eBird.org). The latter appears to be the first breeding record for Lancaster Co, although the observers suggest that following May birds into Jul can be daunting and apparently no breeding season surveys of this sycamore stand were previously done.
Despite the few documented breeding records, there are numerous reports during the breeding season west of the Missouri River Valley.
In the northeast, a singing male was at Oak Valley WMA, Madison Co 10 Jun 2022. Short (1965) collected a singing male in Brown Co 21 June 1964, and it was reported there 12 Jun 1972 and 7 Jul 1968, but not in 1982 (Brogie and Mossman 1983). There are five records in northeastern Cherry Co: 4 Jul 1998 at Valentine City Park, 11-12 Jul 2006 Valentine NWR, in 2021, 1-2 at Fort Falls through 23 Jun, 5 Jun 2023 Smith Falls SP, and 4 Jun 2026 Valentine City Park.
In the southeast, there are reports in the southeast in Gage, Jefferson, Lancaster, and Pawnee Cos. In Gage Co, reports are 30 Jun 2010 at Barneston and of 1-2 at two locations at Beatrice 8-29 Jun 2024. Singles were in Jefferson Co 3 Jun 2007 and at Fairbury City Park, Jefferson Co 5 Jun and 3 Jul 2021. In Lancaster Co there have been consistent reports from Wilderness Park at 1st & Calvert St since 1999 (Moni Usasz, personal communication). One was recorded at 39th St in Lincoln, Lancaster Co 11 Jun 2022, and a female and two males were photographed in a sycamore stand at the Epworth Park unit of Wilderness Park in May 2025 and follow-up surveys for evidence of breeding at this site documented a singing male on territory there through 16 Jul that apparently bred successfully (see above). A second male was on territory in Jun 2025 about 3/4 mi farther south singing from a sycamore on private property and abutting Wilderness Park forest. One was at Wilderness Park, Lancaster Co 1 Jul 2926. A new location was Chautauqua Park, Pawnee Co, on 21 Jun 2026.
In the west central and west, apart from the Cherry Co records (above), breeding season reports are of singing males at Chadron, Dawes Co 5 Jun 1979 (Rosche 1982) and Sowbelly Canyon, Sioux Co 3 Jun 2026, 6 Jun (3, no year given) McCook, Red Willow Co, 10 Jun 2011 Chase Co, 17 Jun (female) and 29 Jun-1 Jul (singing male) at separate locations in Keith Co, and 26 Jun 2010 Ash Hollow SHP, Garden Co.
- Breeding phenology:
Eggs: 13 Jun
Nestlings: 27-28 May
Fledglings: 20 Jun-4 Jul
Fall: summer <<<>>> Oct 2, 2, 4; Sep 3, 4, 4 <<<>>> Oct 7, 7, 8 (away from breeding areas)
An earlier date away from breeding areas is 16 Aug 2022 Nance Co.
Later dates away from breeding areas are 14 Oct 2024 Valley Co, 17 Oct 2022 Kimball Co, 7 Nov 2021 Dundy Co, and 17 Nov 2023 Sarpy Co.
Northern Parulas become inconspicuous in late summer and fall, and depart by late Sep.
There are these few fall reports away from the east: 30 Jul-28 Aug 1977 Box Butte Reservoir, Dawes Co, 5 Sep 1979 Boone Co, 6 Sep 1998 male at Gering Cemetery, Scotts Bluff Co, 7 Sep 1912 specimen UNSM ZM11790 Thomas Co (Zimmer 1913), 12 Sep 1919 specimen UNSM ZM6840 Sioux Co, 20 Sep 2022 Scotts Bluff Co, 22 Sep 1997 Thomas Co, 26 Sep 2023 Scotts Bluff Co, 29 Sep 2025 Buffalo Co, 30 Sep 2014 Dawson Co, and 14 Oct 2024 Valley Co.
Occasionally very tardy individuals occur, oddly all in the west or west central: one at Gotte Park, Kimball Co 17 Oct 2022, one at Rock Creek SRA, Dundy Co 7 Nov 2021, an immature male photographed in Keith Co 4 Dec 1999 (Jorgensen 2001), and an apparent immature at Bridgeport, Morrill Co for about two weeks prior to 23 Dec 2023.
- High counts: 4 in Washington Co 11 Sep 1995, 4 in Washington and Douglas Cos 13 Sep 1998, and 4 on Plum Creek Trail, Seward Co 9 Sep 2018.
Comments: As Cerulean Warbler has declined in Nebraska in recent years, doubt has been raised by Justin Rink (personal communication) that heard only singers identified as Ceruleans at Indian Cave SP may in fact be Northern Parulas; all “odd” singers heard personally by Rink that might have been Ceruleans were tracked down and found to be Northern Parulas. Some or perhaps all of these “odd” songs may be an alternate Northern Parula song that Pieplow (2017) describes as a “second-category song”. This frequently heard two-part Northern Parula song consists of buzzy series of notes with the initial series lower in pitch than the succeeding series so sounds quite similar to a Cerulean’s song (Shari Schwartz; personal communication, eBird.org).
Images
Abbreviations
BBS: Breeding Bird Survey
NWR: National Wildlife Refuge
SHP: State Historical Park
SP: State Park
SRA: State Recreation Area
UNSM: University of Nebraska State Museum
WMA: Wildlife Management Area (state)
Literature Cited
AviList Core Team, 2025. AviList: The Global Avian Checklist, v2025. https://doi.org/10.2173/avilist.v2025.
Bennett, E.V. 1987. 1986 Nebraska nesting survey. NBR 55: 31-35.
Brogie, M.A., and M.J. Mossman. 1983. Spring and summer birds of the Niobrara Valley Preserve, Nebraska: An annotated checklist. NBR 51: 44-51.
Grzybowski, J.A. 1992. Southern Great Plains Region. American Birds 46: 113-117.
Jorgensen, J.G. 2001. 1999 (Eleventh) Report of the NOU Records Committee. NBR 69: 85-91.
Moldenhauer, R.R. and D.J. Regelski. 2020. Northern Parula (Setophaga americana), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (A. F. Poole, Editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.norpar.01.
Mollhoff, W.J. 2016. The Second Nebraska Breeding Bird Atlas. Bull. Univ. Nebraska State Museum Vol 29. University of Nebraska State Museum, Lincoln, Nebraska, USA.
Mollhoff, W.J. 2022. Nest records of Nebraska birds. Nebraska Ornithologists’ Union Occasional Paper Number 9.
Pieplow, N. 2017. Peterson Field Guide to Bird Sounds of Eastern North America. Harper Collins.
Rosche, R.C. 1982. Birds of northwestern Nebraska and southwestern South Dakota, an annotated checklist. Cottonwood Press, Crawford, Nebraska, USA.
Sauer, J.R., D.K. Niven, J.E. Hines, D.J. Ziolkowski, Jr, K.L. Pardieck, J.E. Fallon, and W.A. Link. 2017. The North American Breeding Bird Survey, Results and Analysis 1966 – 2015 (Nebraska). Version 2.07. USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, Laurel, Maryland, USA.
Short, L.L., Jr. 1965. Bird records from northern Nebraska during the breeding season. NBR 33: 2-5.
Silcock, W.R. 2003. Summer Field Report, June- July 2003. NBR 71: 106-127.
Swenk, M.H. 1919. The Birds and Mammals of Nebraska. Contributions of the Department of Entomology No. 23. Lincoln, Nebraska.
Tallman, D.A., Swanson, D.L., and J.S. Palmer. 2002. Birds of South Dakota. Midstates/Quality Quick Print, Aberdeen, South Dakota, USA.
Zimmer, J.T. 1913. Birds of the Thomas County Forest Preserve. Proceedings Nebraska Ornithologists’ Union 5: 51-104.
Recommended Citation
Silcock, W.R., and J.G. Jorgensen. 2026. Northern Parula (Icterus cucullatus). In Birds of Nebraska — Online. www.BirdsofNebraska.org
Birds of Nebraska – Online
Updated 2 Sep 2026