In 1758, Linnaeus classified the northern parula as a tit, Parus americanus, and as taxonomy developed the genus name was modified first to Parulus and then the current form.

Parula warblers feed on insects and spiders, often caught by flycatching, and they have distinctive buzzing songs and loud chip calls.

John James Audubon illustrated a pair of northern parulas in Birds of America (published in London 1827–38), Plate 15 entitled "Blue Yellow-backed Warbler - Sylvia americana".

[6] Parula replaces the previous default, "Jet", which was a full rainbow- depiction color scheme.

The Parula colormap also has the effect that when plotted in grayscale, the colors also map to a smooth gradient from dark to light grey.