Introduction

The Louisiana Waterthrush, known for its remarkable vocal abilities, is a drably colored wood-warbler with brownish back, wings, and tail, white underparts boldly streaked with brown, and brown head with white throat and thick white stripe over its eye. Similar in appearance to its congener the Northern Waterthrush (Seiurus noveboracensis), the Louisiana Waterthrush has a larger bill, pinker legs, whiter eye stripes, and less streaking on its throat.

Throughout its range it is noted for its habit of constantly wagging its tail up and down as it walks along the ground. In fact, the habit is so pronounced that both the genus and species name mean “tail-wagger.”

Compensating for its drab coloration is the Louisiana Waterthrush’s loud, ringing song with its clear, slurred whistles followed by a complex jumble of shorter phrases. This distinctive song usually is loud enough to be heard easily over the prevailing background noise of rushing water in the waterthrush’s streamside habitat. Although this species forages primarily on the ground alongside flowing stream water, it also searches for food in stagnant pools of water along the edges of swamps, and even in parks and gardens during migration. One of the earliest wood-warblers to arrive on its breeding grounds each spring in the eastern United States and southern Ontario, the Louisiana Waterthrush is also one of the earliest to depart after breeding for its winter range in Central America and the West Indies.