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Northern Waterthrush

Seiurus noveboracensisOrder: PASSERIFORMESFamily: Wood Warblers (Parulidae)

Northern Waterthrush Portrait
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General

Northern Waterthrush: Large, ground-walking warbler with dark brown upperparts and white to pale yellow underparts with dark, heavy streaks. Eyebrows are thick and white. Sexes are similar. Bobs tail as it walks.

Range and Habitat

Northern Waterthrush: Breeds from Alaska and much of Canada south to the northern U.S. Spends winters in the tropics. Prefers cool, dark, wooded swamps, thickets of bogs, margins of northern lakes, and willow and alder bordered rivers; during the spring and fall migration, often found in thick cover along streams, marshes, and stagnant pools.

Listen to Call

Voice Text

"twi-twit-twit-sweet-sweet-sweet-chew-chew-chew"

Interesting Facts

 The Northern Waterthrush is territorial in both winter and summer.

 The Bird Banding Lab web site reports that between 1955 and 1997, a total of 18,658 were banded. Of these, only 7 have ever been recovered, a very low recovery rate of 0.037%.

 Banding studies show that they can live up to 7 years in the wild.

 A group of warblers has many collective nouns, including a "bouquet", "confusion", "fall", and "wrench" of warblers.



Author

Gary Owen Dick

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Range Map for Northern Waterthrush
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Bird Call Credits: The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Martyn Stewart, http://www.naturesound.org, Redmond, Washington USA. The reuse or copying of bird calls in this database is strictly forbidden.
Family Wood Warbler (Parulidae)_blue
Species Seiurus noveboracensis
Length5.75 Inches
Wingspan8.75 Inches

Northern Waterthrush

Northern Waterthrush: Large, ground-walking warbler with dark brown upperparts and white to pale yellow underparts with dark, heavy streaks. Eyebrows are thick and vary from pale yellow to white. It flies swiftly in a direct line for short distances. Territorial in both its winter and summer ranges.

● Song: "twi-twit-twit-sweet-sweet-sweet-chew-chew-chew"

● Foraging & Feeding: Northern Waterthrush: Eats insects, spiders, snails, small fish, and crustaceans; forages by gleaning foliage, catching insects in flight, and hovering.

● Breeding & nesting: Northern Waterthrush: Three to six cream or buff eggs with brown or gray specks and spots are laid in a nest made of moss and set in a bank, at the base of a trunk, or in the roots of an overturned tree. Eggs are incubated for approximately 13 days by the female.

● Similar species: Northern Waterthrush: Louisiana Waterthrush has longer bill, unspotted throat, and buff wash on underparts

Flight Pattern

Swift strong direct flight.
Northern Waterthrush Body Illustration
● Range & Habitat: Northern Waterthrush: Breeds from Alaska and much of Canada south to the northern U.S. Spends winters in the tropics. Prefers cool, dark, wooded swamps, thickets of bogs, margins of northern lakes, and willow and alder bordered rivers; during the spring and fall migration, often found in thick cover along streams, marshes, and stagnant pools.
BreedingMonogamous, Solitary nester
Population
MigrationMigratory
Weight0.8 Ounces