| The Louisiana Waterthrush is a thrush like warbler which is dark-olive brown above and white with streaks below. It is similar to the Northern Waterthrush but the throat is unstreaked and the white eyebrow is longer and more pronounced. Its teetering head and tail bobbing stance aids in identification.
Always near water, the habitat usually consists of fast moving streams but will also inhabit swampy rivers or sluggish streams in the southern part of its range where the Northern Waterthrush is absent. The breeding ground consist of most of the eastern half of the United States from the Great Lakes south accept for Florida and along the Gulf Coast. Winters are spent in the tropics from Central America to Peru and the northern part of South America.
A clutch consists of 5 white eggs with brown splotches, which are laid in a nest of leaves and moss and lined with grass. The nest is usually concealed under the overhang of a river bank or the exposed roots of a trees only a few feet from the water. The eggs are incubated by the female for about 13 days and leave the nest about 10 days later. Like many other warblers it is a common host for the Brown-headed Cowbird.
A path of leaves is usually built that leads from the nest to the waters edge where the Louisiana Waterthrush spends much of its time walking or wading while pulling leaves from the water as it forages for insects, mollusks, crustaceans and occasionally small fish.
Length: 6 1/2 inches
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