The Northern Waterthrush (Parkesia noveboracensis) is one of the larger New World warbler

New World warbler

The New World warblers or wood-warblers are a group of small, often colorful, passerine birds restricted to the New World. They are not related to the Old World warblers or the Australian warblers....

s. It breeds in the northern part of North America

North America

North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...

 in Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

, and in the northern United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, (in areas including Alaska

Alaska

Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...

). This bird is migratory

Bird migration

Bird migration is the regular seasonal journey undertaken by many species of birds. Bird movements include those made in response to changes in food availability, habitat or weather. Sometimes, journeys are not termed "true migration" because they are irregular or in only one direction...

, wintering in Central America

Central America

Central America is the central geographic region of the Americas. It is the southernmost, isthmian portion of the North American continent, which connects with South America on the southeast. When considered part of the unified continental model, it is considered a subcontinent...

, the West Indies, and Florida

Florida

Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...

; also Venezuela

Venezuela

Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...

, Colombia

Colombia

Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...

, and Ecuador

Ecuador

Ecuador , officially the Republic of Ecuador is a representative democratic republic in South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and by the Pacific Ocean to the west. It is one of only two countries in South America, along with Chile, that do not have a border...

. It is a very rare vagrant to western Europe

Western Europe

Western Europe is a loose term for the collection of countries in the western most region of the European continents, though this definition is context-dependent and carries cultural and political connotations. One definition describes Western Europe as a geographic entity—the region lying in the...

; also other South American countries.

Description

The Northern Waterthrush is a large new world warbler with a length of 12–14 cm (5–6 in, wingspan of 21–24 cm (8–9 in and average weight between 13–25 g (0.46–0.88 oz) On the head, the crown is brown with a white supercilium

Supercilium

The supercilium is a plumage feature found on the heads of some bird species. It is a stripe which runs from the base of the bird's beak above its eye, finishing somewhere towards the rear of the bird's head. Also known as an "eyebrow", it is distinct from the eyestripe, which is a line which runs...

. The bill is pointed and dark. The throat is lightly streaked brown to black with heavier streaking continuing onto the breast and flanks. The back is evenly brown. Sexes are morphologically similar. Young birds have buff, rather than white underparts.

The only species which, among bird watchers, causes confusion with the Northern Waterthrush is the closely related Louisiana Waterthrush

Louisiana Waterthrush

The Louisiana Waterthrush is a New World warbler. It breeds in eastern North America from southernmost Canada and south through the eastern USA, excluding Florida and the coast....

 (Parkesia motacilla, which has buff flanks, a buff undertail, and bright pink legs. The Louisiana Waterthrush also has a whiter throat with fewer streaks.

Both waterthrush species walk rather than hop, and seem to teeter, since they bob their rear ends as they move along.

Behavior

On the wintering grounds in Puerto Rico, Northern Waterthrushes leave daytime foraging areas and fly up to 2 kilometers to nighttime roosts. The roosts are often located in red mangrove habitats.

Northern Waterthrushes winter in 4 main habitats in Puerto Rico: white mangrove, red mangrove, black mangrove, and scrub. Males, which are larger and migrate earlier in spring, prefer to winter in white mangrove, and are able to maintain or gain weight through the winter. Females winter in the other drier and less food-rich habitats. Waterthrushes wintering red and black mangrove can maintain body weight through the winter but lose weight in scrub.

Reproduction

The breeding habitat of the Northern Waterthrush is wet woodlands near water. It nests in a stump or among tree roots, laying three to six eggs, which are cream- or buff-colored, with brown and gray spots. These eggs are laid in a cup nest constructed of leaves, bark strips, and rootlets.

Diet

The Northern Waterthrush is a terrestrial feeder, eating insect

Insect

Insects are a class of living creatures within the arthropods that have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body , three pairs of jointed legs, compound eyes, and two antennae...

s, mollusks, and crustacean

Crustacean

Crustaceans form a very large group of arthropods, usually treated as a subphylum, which includes such familiar animals as crabs, lobsters, crayfish, shrimp, krill and barnacles. The 50,000 described species range in size from Stygotantulus stocki at , to the Japanese spider crab with a leg span...

s found amongst leaf litter.

Vocalization

Its song

Bird song

Bird vocalization includes both bird calls and bird songs. In non-technical use, bird songs are the bird sounds that are melodious to the human ear. In ornithology and birding, songs are distinguished by function from calls.-Definition:The distinction between songs and calls is based upon...

 is a loud swee swee chit chit weedleoo, and its call is a hard chink.

External links

• Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center Waterthrush Research
• Northern Waterthrush Seiurus noveboracensis, USGS
• Northern Waterthrush, Cornell Lab of Ornithology
• Northern Waterthrush videos, Internet Bird Collection
• Northern Waterthrush photo gallery; VIREO Photo-High Res--(Close-up)