Louisiana Waterthrush

IDENTIFICATION: An active, ground-feeding warbler with a brown back, streaked undersides, a wide, white eye line, and pink legs. Its bill is larger than the similar Northern Waterthrush. Length: 15 cm.; weight: 16 g.

VOICE: In Puerto Rico in the winter it does not sing, but frequently gives a loud "chink" note. Audio 2 (M. Oberle).

HABITAT: Forested streams at all elevations, and less commonly in coastal mangroves.

HABITS: Forages along streamsides, and constantly rocks on its legs, bobbing its lower body and tail up and down. It gleans insects from the edge of the water, just below the waterÆs surface, or from streamside vegetation. It will also flip over submerged leaves to discover food, and rarely catches airborne insects by hovering or hawking. Although most food in Puerto Rico is documented to be insects (flies, beetles, dragonflies), it also eats small snails, scorpions, and frogs. Each bird defends a narrow, streamside feeding territory 100-300 meters long in winter. In the breeding season in eastern North America, both sexes build a nest of twigs, grass and moss in a root tangle near a wooded stream. On average, the female incubates five eggs for about 13 days. Both sexes feed the young birds, which leave the nest about 10 days after hatching.

STATUS AND CONSERVATION: A common, winter resident. However, it is also an example of a species that spends more time on its "winter" grounds than its breeding grounds. It occurs in Puerto Rico from July through April. Although current population trends appear to be stable, deforestation near streams in both the summer and winter grounds are long-term threats to population levels. The Brown-headed Cowbird (Molothrus ater) commonly lays its egg in waterthrush nests, reducing nest success. The mongoose is a potential predator in Puerto Rico.

RANGE: Breeds along streams in the eastern United States and southern Ontario, and winters throughout the Caribbean and lowland Central America to northern Venezuela. A regular place to see this species is along the streams and wet forest roads in El Yunque.

TAXONOMY: PASSERIFORMES; PARULIDAE

References

Arendt, W.J. 1992. Status of North American migrant landbirds in the Caribbean region: a summary. Pp. 143-171 in Ecology and conservation of neotropical migrant landbirds (J.M. Hagan III and D.W. Johnston, eds.) Smithsonian Instit. Press, Washington, D.C.

Bent, A.C. 1953. Life histories of North American wood warblers. Smithsonian Instit. U.S. National Museum Bull. 203. (Reprinted by Dover Press, NY, 1963).

Curson, J., D. Quinn, and D. Beadle. 1994. Warblers of the Americas: an identification guide. Houghton Mifflin, NY.

Dunn, J. and K. Garrett. 1997. A field guide to warblers of North America. Houghton Mifflin, NY.

Ehrlich, P.R., D.S. Dobkin, and D. Wheye. 1988. The birder's handbook: a field guide to the natural history of North American birds. Simon and Schuster/ Fireside, NY.

Raffaele, H.A. 1989. A guide to the birds of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Princeton.

Raffaele, H.A. 1989. Una guía a las aves de Puerto Rico y las Islas Vírgenes. Publishing Resources, Inc., Santurce, PR.

Raffaele, H.A., J.W. Wiley, O.H. Garrido, A.R. Keith, and J.I. Raffaele. 1998. Guide to the birds of the West Indies. Princeton.

Robinson, W. D. 1995. Louisiana Waterthrush (Seiurus motacilla). No. 151 in The birds of North America (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). Acad. Nat. Sci., Philadelphia, PA, and Am. Ornithol. Union, Washington, D.C.

Louisiana Waterthrush, Spanish text

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