Parula Warbler (Parula americana) in Wigan: a new species for the county

At 8.20 a.m. on 2nd November, 1982 I came across a small bird lying on a secluded drive behind the 'Elms' Royal Albert Edward Infirmary at Wigan. It was still breathing, with eyes opening and closing. It was taken at once into a warm room but failed to revive and died.

The bird was about 4 in. long with a fine bill. The head and upperparts were blue grey, with a greenish triangle on the upper back. There were two prominent white wing-bars. The eye was outlined by an almost complete white eye ring. The throat and breast was bright yellow with a breast band of heavily speckled chestnut. The lower belly was white. This Parula Warbler was apparently a male.

The Parula Warbler is the only common warbler in Eastern Canada and the USA with a yellow throat and blue back.

The specimen was taken to Liverpool Museum where the identification was verified and the bird is now mounted in the Natural History section.

Edward King

[ The autumn of 1982, especially October and November, provided a rich variety of migrants of North American origin nationwide. There was a Nighthawk which stayed for several weeks, on the Isles of Scilly, several Chimney Swifts and a Varied Thrush in Cornwall, an American Redstart at Gibraltar Point, Lincolnshire, and a Green Heron on North Humberside- Eds]