Northern Waterthrush

The Northern Waterthrush is a large, streaky, ground-dwelling warbler that, like its close relative the Louisiana Waterthrush, looks and behaves more like a small thrush than a typical warbler. Brown above and heavily streaked below on a yellowish-white to whitish background, it has a narrow buffy or whitish eyebrow stripe of even width running the length of the face.

It breeds much farther north than Louisiana Waterthrush, across the boreal forest, and tends to favor still or slow-moving water such as swamps, bogs, and pond edges rather than the fast rocky streams preferred by its relative.

Key field marks

• Brown upperparts, whitish to pale yellowish underparts with dense, fine streaking
• Narrow, evenly wide buffy-white eyebrow stripe
• Finely streaked or spotted throat
• Smaller bill than Louisiana Waterthrush
• Constant tail-bobbing while walking

Similar species

Louisiana Waterthrush is very similar but has a broader eyebrow stripe that widens behind the eye, an unmarked white throat, buffy flanks, a larger bill, and a preference for fast-flowing streams rather than still water.

Northern Waterthrushes breed across the boreal forest of Canada, Alaska, and the northern United States, favoring wooded swamps, bogs, beaver ponds, and the shrubby edges of lakes and slow streams, generally where standing or slow-moving water persists through the breeding season.

They winter in mangroves, wetland edges, and other wet lowland habitats from Mexico and the Caribbean south through Central America into northern South America.

Behavior and voice

Northern Waterthrushes walk along the edges of water, bobbing and teetering the tail, gleaning aquatic and terrestrial insects and other small invertebrates from mud, leaf litter, and shallow water.

The song is a loud, emphatic series often rendered as "sweet-sweet-sweet, chew-chew-chew-chew," descending in pitch and delivered with a ringing, forceful quality.

Nesting

The nest is tucked into an upturned tree root, mossy hummock, or streambank cavity near water, built of moss, leaves, and bark strips. Clutches typically contain 4-5 eggs.