National Geographic Magazine/Volume 31/Number 4/Friends of Our Forests/Louisiana Water-thrush

Louisiana Water-thrush (Seiurus motacilla)


Range: Breeds mainly in Carolinian Zone from southeastern Nebraska, southeastern Minnesota, and the southern parts of Michigan, Ontario, New York, and New England south to northeastern Texas, northern Georgia, and central South Carolina; winters from northern Mexico to Colombia, the Greater Antilles, Antigua, and the Bahamas.

The Louisiana water-thrush, though not unlike its northern relative in general appearance, is very different in disposition and habits, and I know of no bird more shy and difficult to watch. It frequents the banks and neighborhood of clear streams that run through woodlands and tangles of laurel. One hears the sharp note of challenge or the wild ringing song, but any attempt to see the singer, unless made with the utmost caution, will end in disappointment or in a casual glimpse of a small, brown bird flitting like a shadow through the brush.

The song of either water-thrush is of a high order of excellence. I cannot but think, however, that the song of the Louisiana water-thrush gains over that of its tuneful rival by partaking somewhat of the nature of its wild surroundings, and that its song is enhanced by its accompaniments—the murmur of the woodland brook and the whisper of the foliage—among which it is heard. Quite a number of our birds habitually teeter or wag their tails, but few as persistently as the water-thrushes.

Source: Henry W. Henshaw (April 1917), “Friends of Our Forests”, The National Geographic Magazine 31(4): 319. (Illustration from p. 317.)