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Print size 27 1/4" x 39 1/4" Image size 11 1/2" x 18 1/2" Audubon's young assistant, Joseph Mason, painted the iris which Audubon called "Louisiana Flag." Audubon wrote in his journal for March 26, 1821, that Joseph Mason had shot a male "Blue Yellow Back Warbler." On the following day Audubon painted both the warbler and its mate, she eyeing an inchworm. The northern parula warbler is a grayish-blue bird with a distinctive yellowish-green patch on its back and a buzzing song that during breeding season has been described as a "sizzling trill." The name "parula," meaning a diminutive Parus or titmouse, was given this warbler because of its chickadee-like habit of foraging for food; poking, picking, and hanging on the underside of a limb. Moss is its characteristic nesting site. In the south, it is associated with woodlands where Spanish moss hangs from the trees; in other areas, where Usnea or beard moss is common. EHJ |
