One of my favorite places to go birding is along the Blue Ridge Parkway in western North Carolina. I’ve got a trip scheduled here in a couple weeks and can’t wait to go back!
It’s up there that we can find birds like the Canada Warbler. With that striking yellow and black plumage, they’re always a cheerful sight on a summer morning in the Appalachians.

These handsome Warblers nest across the southern boreal region of Canada, from extreme southeastern Yukon to Nova Scotia, and south to the Great Lakes region, New England, and into the Appalachian mountains all the way down to Georgia. It’s neat to have a species like this calling the Tarheel state home during the summer.

When looking for Canada Warblers, investigate areas which provide their favored habitats of dark brushy cover in the understory layer of mixed deciduous forests along the higher elevations of the Parkway.
They are best found foraging in dense, dimly lit patches of rhododendron and mountain laurel.
This can make them somewhat hard to locate in the brush so listen for their songs which starts with a loud chip, followed by a series of warbling notes that often ends on a higher pitch.

Though they can be hard to spot at times, luckily Canada Warblers relatively common in the Blue Ridge so you should have multiple opportunities to see and photograph them if you take the time to search for these feathered gems.

Photos by @sally_siko of @birdwatching_nc on the full frame beast of an SLR, the mighty @canonusa
#5Ds