The upperparts of the adult Louisiana waterthrush are brown, with a white eyebrow that extends well beyond the eye and flares out slightly on the neck. The underparts are white, with heavy brown streaks on the breast and upper belly. Usually the chin and throat lack streaks, which are present in the otherwise similar northern waterthrush. The sides and flanks are buff tinged. The legs are unquestionably pink.
The Louisiana waterthrush constantly bobs its tail; it is usually seen walking on the ground.
The song is loud; it rings emphatically with 2–5 clear, down-slurred, whistled notes followed by a jumbled warble. The call is a sharp chink or tsink.
Key identifiers:
- Brown above
- White with heavy brown streaks below
- White eyebrow extending to and flaring slightly on the neck
- Chin and throat usually lack streaks
- Bobs tail
- Quick, nervous movements
- Walks instead of hops
- Loud, ringing song is diagnostic
- Usually found in wooded areas near streams
Similar species: The closely related northern waterthrush has a streaked throat and lacks a buffy tinge on the flanks; its eyebrow is buffy (not white) and does not widen toward the back (if anything, it narrows); its bill is slightly smaller; its legs less pink (rather brownish or grayish). Also, the songs and habitats are different: the Louisiana waterthrush’s opening notes slur downward, like the sloping lands and flowing streams that it prefers. But the first notes of a northern waterthrush’s song stay level, like the low wetlands it prefers.
Ovenbirds have olive upperparts and a rusty crown stripe bordered with black; there is a bold white eye ring. Note that, like both Louisiana and northern waterthrushes, it walks on the ground, rather than hops.
Waterthrushes might be mistaken for (true) thrushes or sparrows. Sparrows, however, have conical bills, and any lookalike thrushes (such as wood thrush and hermit thrush) have spotted breasts (not streaked), are larger, lack a pronounced white eyeline, and behave quite differently.
Swainson's warbler's song is quite similar to the Louisiana waterthrush's, especially at the beginning, but in Missouri, Swainson's warbler is rare and limited to the Bootheel and our far southern counties. It looks quite different from the Louisiana waterthrush, since it lacks the streaked breast.
Length: 6 inches.
Statewide.
Habitat and Conservation
Look for this species along streams and rivers but also in swamps; usually in wooded areas. It continually bobs as it walks, sometimes in water, giving it the appearance of an American dipper, the unique underwater-walking bird from the Rocky Mountains.
Food
Walks along the banks of running streams and other bodies of water, pecking among leaves on the ground as it forages for insects, worms, crustaceans, snails, and fish. Occasionally also flits into shrubs or snatches insects from the air.
Status
As a summer resident, common in southern Missouri and uncommon in northern Missouri.
Life Cycle
Present in Missouri from mid-March through early October.
Nests on the ground near flowing streams in hilly, wooded areas. Cup nests of mud and a variety of twigs, leaves, and other plant materials are positioned among roots of a fallen tree or other nook near or on the banks of a stream. Clutches comprise 3–6 eggs. Newly hatched young are altricial (helpless and mostly featherless).
The winter range includes parts of Mexico, the Caribbean, and northern South America.
A Louisiana waterthrush can live to be at least 11 years old.
Human Connections
Humanity is good at naming things, but sometimes names can create confusion. Our two waterthrushes are in the wood-warbler family, also called the New World warbler family because they occur only in the western hemisphere. Most of the warblers in this family are small, yellow or yellowish birds that flit around in trees.
Despite their name, waterthrushes are unrelated to true thrushes, which are in, well, the thrush family. (Some American members of the true thrush family are the wood thrush, eastern bluebird, and American robin.) True thrushes were quite familiar to European settlers from the Old World. Our New World waterthrushes got called "thrushes" because they share several characteristics with many of the true thrushes of Europe: their general size, diet of invertebrates, typically having brown backs and white, dark-spotted breasts, and habit of striding around on the ground.
This is similar to the case of the American robin, which, although a true thrush, received its common name from its similar coloration to a European species called, well, the European robin. The European robin, the original "robin red-breast," is not a true thrush; instead, it's in the Old World flycatcher family (setting aside the orange breast, if you compare the bill shapes and body forms, they are very dissimilar to American robins and other true thrushes).
But these common names have stuck. These are great examples of why scientific names, and the study of taxonomy, is so helpful for understanding the true relationships among organisms.
Ecosystem Connections
Waterthrushes are predators that help control the populations of the species they eat.
Although many predators might find an adult waterthrush difficult to capture, the carefully hidden nest of this species reminds us that eggs and young are especially vulnerable.
About 350 species of birds are likely to be seen in Missouri, though nearly 400 have been recorded within our borders. Most people know a bird when they see one — it has feathers, wings, and a bill. Birds are warm-blooded, and most species can fly. Many migrate hundreds or thousands of miles. Birds lay hard-shelled eggs (often in a nest), and the parents care for the young. Many communicate with songs and calls.