Northern waterthrush

The northern waterthrush (Parkesia noveboracensis)[2] is a species of ground-feeding migratory New World warbler of the genus Parkesia. It breeds in the northern part of North America in Canada and the northern United States including Alaska, and winters in Central America, the West Indies and Florida, as well as in Venezuela, Colombia, and Ecuador.[3] It is a rare vagrant to other South American countries and to western Europe. Its closest relative is the Louisiana waterthrush.

Northern waterthrush
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Dinosauria
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Parulidae
Genus: Parkesia
Species:
P. noveboracensis
Binomial name
Parkesia noveboracensis
(Gmelin, 1789)
Range of P. noveboracensis
  Breeding range
  Wintering range
Synonyms

Seiurus noveboracensis

Etymology

The genus name Parkesia commemorates Kenneth Carroll Parkes, American ornithologist and curator of the Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh, and noveboracensis is New York, the type locality from Latin novus, "new" and Eboracum, York.[4]

Description

The northern waterthrush is a large New World warbler (and not a thrush, despite the name). It has a length of 12–15 cm (4.7–5.9 in), wingspan of 21–24 cm (8.3–9.4 in) and weighs between 13 and 25 g (0.46 and 0.88 oz)[5][6] Among standard measurements, the wing chord is 6.8 to 8.2 cm (2.7 to 3.2 in), the tail is 4.5 to 5.7 cm (1.8 to 2.2 in), the bill is 1.1 to 1.2 cm (0.43 to 0.47 in) and the tarsus is 1.9 to 2.3 cm (0.75 to 0.91 in).[7] On the head, the crown is brown with a white supercilium. The bill is pointed and dark. The throat is lightly streaked brown to black with heavier streaking continuing onto the breast and flanks. The back is evenly brown. Sexes are morphologically similar. Young birds have buff, rather than white underparts.

South Padre Island - Texas

The only species birdwatchers confuse with the northern waterthrush is the closely related Louisiana waterthrush (Parkesia motacilla[2]), which has buff flanks, a buff undertail, and bright pink legs. The Louisiana waterthrush also has a whiter throat with fewer streaks. More subtle clues include smaller size and smaller bill, a narrower and darker eye-line, and different call note and habits.[8]

Both waterthrush species walk rather than hop, and seem to teeter, since they bob their rear ends as they move along.

Behavior

On the wintering grounds in Puerto Rico, northern waterthrushes leave daytime foraging areas and fly up to 2 km (1.2 mi) to nighttime roosts. The roosts are often located in red mangrove habitats.[9] Northern waterthrushes winter in 4 main habitats in Puerto Rico: white mangrove, red mangrove, black mangrove, and scrub.[3] Males, which are larger and migrate earlier in spring, prefer to winter in white mangrove, and are able to maintain or gain weight through the winter. Females winter in the other drier and less food-rich habitats. During the non-breeding period, northern waterthrushes are site-faithful and tend to be solitary.[3]

Waterthrushes wintering in red and black mangrove can maintain body weight through the winter but lose weight in scrub. Another determinant in body mass increase in the wintering grounds is moisture.[10]

Northern waterthrush territories are distributed across both upland and riparian habitats, but have limited occupation of harvested areas. Crowding into riparian buffer zones adjacent to harvested areas have more difficulty foraging compared to those in untouched areas.[11]

Reproduction

The breeding habitat of the northern waterthrush is wet woodlands near water. It nests in a stump or among tree roots where it lays three to six eggs, cream- or buff-colored, with brown and gray spots. These eggs are laid in a cup nest constructed of leaves, bark strips, and rootlets.

Diet

The northern waterthrush is a terrestrial ground feeder,[3] eating insects, spiders,[12][13] mollusks (such as snails),[12][13] worms,[12][13] and crustaceans found amongst leaf litter, as well as minnows, found by wading through water.[12][13]

Vocalization

The song of loud, emphatic, clear chirping notes generally falling in pitch and accelerating; loosely paired or tripled, with little variation. Call a loud, hard spwik rising with a strong K sound. The flight call is a buzzy, high, slightly rising zzip.[8]

Vagrancy

The first northern waterthrush recorded in Europe was a female trapped in Ushant, France on 17 September 1955. The species was first recorded in the United Kingdom on 30 September 1958, on St. Agnes, Isles of Scilly. It was caught in a mist-net, photographed, and released, after which it stayed until 12 October.[14][15] There have been seven records in the UK between 1958 and 2019.[16]

References
  1. BirdLife International (2016). "Parkesia noveboracensis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2016: e.T22721793A94731564. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22721793A94731564.en. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  2. R. Terry Chesser; Richard C. Banks; F. Keith Barker; Carla Cicero; Jon L. Dunn; Andrew W. Kratter; Kirby J. Lovette; Pamela C. Ramussen; J. V. Remsen Jr.; James D. Rising; Douglas F. Stotz & Kevin Winker (2010). "Fifty-First Supplement to the American Ornithologists' Union Check-List of North American Birds" (PDF). The Auk. 127 (3): 726–744. doi:10.1525/auk.2010.127.4.966. S2CID 198156876.
  3. Smith, Joseph A. M.; Reitsma, Leonard R.; Rockwood, Larry L.; Marra, Peter P. (2008-07-01). "Roosting behavior of a Neotropical migrant songbird, the northern waterthrush Seiurus noveboracensis, during the non-breeding season". Journal of Avian Biology. 39 (4): 460–465. doi:10.1111/j.0908-8857.2008.04227.x. ISSN 1600-048X.
  4. Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London, United Kingdom: Christopher Helm. pp. 276, 292. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
  5. Eaton, S. W. (1995). "Northern Waterthrush (Parkesia noveboracensis), The Birds of North America Online". Ithaca, NY: Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Retrieved 2008-04-16.
  6. "FieldGuides: Northern Waterthrush Species Detail". eNature.com. Archived from the original on 2014-05-28. Retrieved 2012-08-24.
  7. Curson, Jon; Quinn, David; Beadle, David (1994). New World Warblers: An Identification Guide. Christopher Helm Publishers. ISBN 978-0-7136-3932-2.
  8. Sibley, David (2000). The Sibley Gide of Birds. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. p. 449.
  9. Smith, J. A. M.; Reitsma, L. R.; Rockwood, L. L. & Marra, P. P. (2008). "Roosting behavior of a Neotropical migrant songbird, the northern waterthrush Seiurus noveboracensis, during the non-breeding season" (PDF). Journal of Avian Biology. 39: 460–465. doi:10.1111/j.0908-8857.2008.04227.x. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-04-23. Retrieved 2012-08-24.
  10. Smith, Joseph A. M.; Reitsma, Leonard R.; Marra, Peter P. (2010). "Moisture as a determinant of habitat quality for a nonbreeding Neotropical migratory songbird". Ecology. 91 (10): 2874–2882. doi:10.1890/09-2212.1. PMID 21058548.
  11. Warkentin, Ian G; Fisher, Allison L; Flemming, Stephen P; Roberts, Shawn E (2003-05-01). "Response to clear-cut logging by northern waterthrushes". Canadian Journal of Forest Research. 33 (5): 755–762. doi:10.1139/x03-002. ISSN 0045-5067.
  12. https://sta.uwi.edu/fst/lifesciences/sites/default/files/lifesciences/documents/ogatt/Parkesia_noveboracensis%20-%20Northern%20Waterthrush.pdf
  13. "Seiurus noveboracensis (Northern waterthrush)". Animal Diversity Web.
  14. Harris, G. J.; Parslow J. L. F. (November 1960). "Northern Waterthrush in the Isles of Scilly: a bird new to Great Britain and Ireland". British Birds. 53 (11): 513–8. Retrieved 2 May 2022.
  15. Sharrock, J. T. R.; Grant, P. J. (2010). Birds new to Britain and Ireland: original accounts from the monthly journal British birds. [London]: A & C Black. p. 95. ISBN 978-1-4081-3844-1. OCLC 757722638.
  16. "BTO BirdFacts | Northern Waterthrush". British Trust for Ornithology. 16 July 2010. Retrieved 2 May 2022.
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