northern parula

8.6

A small blue-gray songbird with a yellow throat and chest in eastern North America

noun
/ˈnɔrðərn pəˈruːlə/

: parula del norte

The migration of the northern parula is closely followed by bird enthusiasts in spring.

Examples

Look at that northern parula perched on the branch!
We spotted a northern parula singing high in the maple tree this morning.
A bright yellow throat makes the northern parula easy to identify among other warblers.
The northern parula sings beautifully in the spring.
The northern parula is a delightful sight in the spring as it flits among the trees.
Birdwatchers eagerly seek to spot the northern parula during its migration through eastern North America.
In wooded areas, the northern parula can often be heard singing its distinctive song.

Synonyms

Parula americana

vsnorthern parula

Specialized

9.9

A small North American bird with blue-grey feathers and a yellow throat and chest

is the common everyday name rather than the formal Latin name

parula warbler

vsnorthern parula

9.9

A small blue-gray bird with a bright yellow throat and breast found in eastern North America

is the specific regional common name used in eastern North America

Surface Forms

northern parula singular

northern parulas plural

Morphology

northern + Parula

The phrase is a straightforward adjectival combination: 'northern' (from the north) modifies 'Parula' (a genus of small wood warblers), so a learner who knows both constituents can infer it denotes the northern species of that genus (i.e., a small wood warbler). This compositional pattern for species/common names is cross-linguistically common and therefore readily understandable to a B1 learner.

Etymology

Northern parula combines a place word and a little-bird name: northern shows where it lives and parula is an old name for a tiny warbler. So the name helps you picture 'a small northern warbler'—easy to remember when you see its bright yellow throat.