Louisiana Waterthrush

About the Louisiana Waterthrush

The Louisiana Waterthrush is a warbler doing a sandpiper impression - a brown-backed, boldly streaked bird of flowing water that walks (never hops) the stony edges of clear streams, its rear end bobbing constantly like a Spotted Sandpiper's. The strict habitat is the first field mark: where the water moves, this is the waterthrush to expect.

It feeds on aquatic insects - mayfly and caddisfly larvae, small crustaceans, occasionally tiny fish - picked from riffles, wet rocks, and flood wrack, and its loud, ringing song of clear descending slurs carries over the sound of moving water, which is exactly what it evolved to do. The very similar Northern Waterthrush prefers still, swampy water; Louisiana shows bubble-gum-pink legs, a broader white eyebrow that flares behind the eye, and a buffy wash on the flanks.

It is among the earliest of all warblers in both directions - back on Texas creeks by mid-March, with fall birds slipping south as early as July - so the window for seeing one is wider but earlier than most warbler timetables.

In Texas, Louisiana Waterthrushes breed along clear, gravel-bottomed streams of the eastern forests and the Hill Country's spring-fed creeks, and migrate through statewide. Because they demand clean, insect-rich running water, their presence on a creek is a compliment to the watershed - a living water-quality report.