| Scientific Name |  Click photo to enlarge. Photo by Fred J. Alsop, III. |
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| Seiurus motacilla Vieillot - ATBI Database: Specimen Records | |||||
| Common Name | |||||
| Louisiana Waterthrush | |||||
| Kingdom | Phylum | Class | Order | Family | |
| Animalia | Chordata | Aves | Passeriformes | Parulidae | |
| Animals | Chordates | Birds | Perching Birds | Wood-Warblers | |
The Louisiana Waterthrush is not a thrush at all, but belongs to the wood-warbler family. The genus and species name of this bird mean "tail-wagger." This is a reference to its habit of flipping its tail up and down while on the ground or singing on a tree branch. This warbler is known for its vocal abilities and its rapid foraging style.
SPECIES DESCRIPTION
Length: 13.3 – 15.2 cm
Physical characteristics: This is a small bird with a bold white eye stripe and longish, pink legs. It has dark olive-brown upperparts and white underparts. The breast, belly and flanks have dark streaking.
Voice: Song begins with a series of 3 or more strident whistles and ends with a jumble of descending notes. The beginning of the song is similar to that of the Swainson's Warbler, but the end notes of these two species are distinctive. Song recorded by John R. Sauer. Its voice is especially loud, the easier to be heard over the sound of rushing mountain streams.
Patuxent Bird Identification Infocenter: Louisiana Waterthrush
DISTRIBUTION
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Breeding: The Louisiana Waterthrush breeds in southern Ontario in Canada, and south into the eastern half of the United States (excluding Florida), and along the Gulf Coast. Click on the map on the left to see the breeding range as determined by the Breeding Bird Survey (BBS). |
| Map not available. | Winter: The Louisiana Waterthrush is a neotropical migrant so it winter range includes the West Indies, and extends from southern Mexico through Central America and, more rarely, into northwestern South America. |
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In Park: The Louisiana Waterthrush is a fairly common breeding bird in the Park. This species is absent during the winter months. In the Smokies this species is most common at lower elevations and is almost always observed in association with streams. A survey of breeding birds in the Park, performed from 1996-1999, ranked Louisiana Waterthrush as the 47th most common species out of 113 species observed during the breeding season. |
 Click maps to enlarge. |
Estimates from this survey indicate that overall Louisiana Waterthrush density in the Park during the breeding season is approximately 0.016 pairs/hectare with highest densities occurring at elevations less than 2,000 feet (0.045 pairs/hectare) and negligible densities over 3,000 feet. This survey may not accurately represent the densities of Louisiana Waterthrushes however, because the survey relied heavily on detecting bird species by hearing their vocalizations. Since this species is generally found near streams, the noise of rushing water can obscure their singing, making them difficult to detect. |
NATURAL HISTORY
Breeding habitat
This species prefers to nest in forested areas near water, particularly running streams with gravel bottoms. It can also be found in cypress swamps and bottomland forests with mud-bottomed streams.
Mating system
Monogamous; a pair most likely produces one brood per season, but may renest if the first brood is unsuccessful. In 2003, a May flooding event appeared to destroy most nests around Tremont. Young of the year appeared later than usual, indicating that some pairs renested.
Nest
Both sexes search for a suitable nesting site, with the female appearing to have the final say. They both gather materials for the nest that they carry while walking to the site. The cup-shaped nest is built on the ground, typically hidden in the exposed roots of a tree, or under a log or overhang on the bank of a stream. The outside is built of damp muddy leaves and plant stems, with twigs and pine needles used occasionally. The lining consists of finer plant stems, rootlets, hair and moss.
Eggs
The female lays 4 - 6 white to creamy-white eggs, marked with various browns. 19mm (0.8'').
Chick development
The female incubates the eggs for 12 – 14 days. The male does not incubate, nor does he feed the female regularly until hatch day. The chicks are altricial at hatching. The male will feed the female while she broods, but she usually passes the food on to the chicks. Both parents care for the chicks and feed them for up to 3 - 4 weeks after fledging. The chicks fledge at about 10 days of age.
Diet
The Louisiana Waterthrush diet is made up of mostly aquatic insects and invertebrates. It also takes small flying insects, crustaceans, mollusks, earthworms and even small fish and amphibians. It forages among the cracks and crevices of the streamside rocks and roots. It will forage on debris floating or submerged in the water as well.
Parasites
An undescribed species of feather mite of the genus Pterodectes (Proctophyllodidae) was collected from a waterthrush caught at Tremont, Tennessee, in July of 2004 (Reeves et al. 2007).
The louse Menacanthus aurocapillus Carriker (Menoponidae) was collected on waterthrushes at Tremont (Reeves et al. 2007). Louse flies (hippoboscidae; species not identified) have been noted on waterthrushes at Tremont.
CONSERVATION BIOLOGY
Surveys show this species to be declining slightly in numbers. But the survey results may be questionable because the Louisiana Waterthrush tends to sing early in the season and at odd times of day, so some of these birds are less likely to be counted. However, this species is expanding its range northward into the states of New York, Connecticut, Vermont and Michigan.
The Louisiana Waterthrush is a common cowbird host. The eggs of both species are similar. This host bird will react to the cowbird eggs by either accepting them, or attempting to destroy them by burying them in the floor of the nest, throwing them out of the nest or pecking and puncturing them.
Special Protection Status
Rangewide: None
Region: None
In Park: All plants and animals are protected within Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Collection requires a permit, which is usually granted only for research or educational purposes.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Maps
Breeding: Sauer, J. R., J. E. Hines, and J. Fallon. 2005. The North American Breeding Bird Survey, Results and Analysis 1966 - 2005. Version 6.2.2006. USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, Laurel, MD.
Winter: N/A
In Park: Discover Life in America - All Taxa Biodiversity Inventory. 2007. The ATBI Database. http://tremont22.campus.utk.edu/ATBI_start.cfm, Discover Life in America, Gatlinburg, Tennessee 37738.
Photographs
Song or Call
John R. Sauer, Patuxent Bird Identification Infocenter. 1998. Version 97.1. Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, Laurel, MD. http://www.mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov/id/framlst/infocenter.html
Text
Camille Sobun, Susan Ann Shriner, and Paul Super, 2007.
Web page
REFERENCES
Alsop, F. J. III. 1991. Birds Of The Smokies. Great Smoky Mountains History Association, Gatlinburg, Tennessee.
Committee on Classification and Nomenclature of the American Ornithologists' Union. 2000. Forty-second supplement to the American Ornithologists' Union Check-list of North American Birds. The Auk 117: 847-858.
Committee on Classification and Nomenclature of the American Ornithologists' Union. 2002. Forty-third supplement to the American Ornithologists' Union Check-list of North American Birds. The Auk 119: 897-906.
Committee on Classification and Nomenclature of the American Ornithologists' Union. 1998. Check-list of North American Birds: the Species of Birds of North America from the Arctic through Panama, including the West Indies and Hawaiian Islands, 7th ed. The Union, Washington, D. C.
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, Inc., New York.
Elphick, C., J. B. Dunning, Jr., and D. A. Sibley, eds. 2001. The Sibley Guide to Bird Life and Behavior. Alfred A. Knopf, New York.
Gough, G. A., Sauer, J. R., Iliff, M. Patuxent Bird Identification Infocenter. 1998. Version 97.1. Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, Laurel, MD. http://www.mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov/id/framlst/infocenter.html.
Reeves, W. K., L. A. Durden, C. M. Ritzi, K. R. Beckham, P. E. Super, and B. M. O’Connor. 2007. Ectoparasites and other ectosymbiotic arthropods of vertebrates in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, USA. Zootaxa.
Robinson, W. D. 1995. Louisiana Waterthrush (Seiurus motacilla). In The Birds of North America, No. 151 (A. Poole and F. Gill, Eds.). Philadelphia: The Academy of Natural Sciences; Washington, DC: The American Ornithologists’ Union.
Sibley, D. A. 2000. The Sibley Guide to Birds. Alfred A. Knopf, New York.
Stupka, A. 1963. Notes on the Birds of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. University of Tennessee Press.
