Louisiana Waterthrush

Seiurus motacilla

Order PASSERIFORMES - Family PARULIDAE

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1. Cool Facts
2. Description
3. Similar Species
4. Sound
5. Range
6. Habitat
7. Food
8. Behavior
9. Reproduction
10. Conservation Status
11. Other Names

A bird of forest streams, the Louisiana Waterthrush looks more like a thrush or sparrow than the warbler it is. It can be recognized by its loud ringing call and constant bobbing of its tail.

Cool Facts

• The Louisiana and Northern waterthrushes are very similar species whose breeding ranges overlap slightly. Their songs and their habitats, while similar, differ significantly. The pitch of the beginning notes of the Louisiana's song usually descend, just as does the hilly stream that is its preferred habitat. The Northern Waterthrush prefers bogs and waters that are flat, just as its beginning notes stay on the same pitch.

• The Louisiana Waterthrush occasionally takes naps during the middle of the day. Unlike when it sleeps at night, a napping waterthrush does not tuck its bill behind a wing. Instead, it pulls its neck into its body, squats down and covers its legs with its body feathers, and shuts its eyes.

• Unlike many warblers, the male Louisiana Waterthrush does not sing on its wintering grounds before it leaves. It sings immediately when it arrives on its breeding territory. Whether it begins singing during migration is not known. When establishing his territory, a male sings vigorously nearly all day. After he acquires a mate, singing decreases quickly and he concentrates his singing into the morning hours.

Description

• Size: 14 cm (6 in)
• Wingspan: 24 cm (9 in)
• Weight: 19-23 g (0.67-0.81 ounces)

• Small songbird.
• Brown back.
• White underside with dark stripes.
• White eyestripe.
• Constantly bobs its tail.

• Throat white and unspotted.
• Buffy wash on flanks.
• Bill dark and thin, but large for a warbler.
• Eyes dark.
• Legs pink.

Sex Differences

Sexes alike.

Immature

Immature like adult.

Similar Species

• Very similar to Northern Waterthrush. Northern usually has stripes on throat, a slightly smaller bill, a thinner and off-white or cream eyestripe that does not extend as far onto the nape, less pink legs, and a more yellowish wash on the underparts.
• Ovenbird is more olive on back, is whiter underneath, has a white eyering, and orange and black crown stripes.
• Thrushes are spotted, not streaked, on the chest.

Sound

Song loud and ringing, starts with two to five slightly descending, clear whistled notes followed by a complex jumble of short, rapid phrases. Call a sharp, metallic "chip."

»listen to songs of this species

Range

Summer Range

Breeds from southeastern Minnesota eastward to southern Maine, and southward to eastern Texas and northern Florida.

Winter Range

Winters from Mexico to northern South America, and in the Caribbean.

Habitat

• Breeds along gravel-bottomed streams flowing through hilly, deciduous forest.
• Winters in similar habitat.

Food

Insects. Also other arthropods, earthworms, and occasionally small frogs and fish.

Behavior

Foraging

Picks at substrate, pulls up submerged leaves, hawks flying insects, and hover-gleans insects off vegetation.

Reproduction

Nest Type

Open cup of mud, leaves, plant stems, pine needles, and small twigs built on foundation of wet leaves. Lined with fine plant stems, rootlets, hair, and moss. May construct entranceway of whole dead leaves. Nest placed in small hollow or cavity on stream bank, under fallen log, or within roots of an upturned tree.

Egg Description

Creamy white with reddish brown splotches, usually concentrated around larger end.

Clutch Size

Usually 5 eggs. Range: 3-6.

Condition at Hatching

Helpless with tufts of dark gray down.

Conservation Status

Little evidence of changing numbers. Not well censused by Breeding Bird Survey.

Other Names

Paruline hochequeue (French)

Sources used to construct this page:

Robinson, W. D. 1995. Louisiana Waterthrush (Seirurs motacilla). In The Birds of North America, No. 151 (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, PA, and The American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C.