The Louisiana Waterthrush is a warbler that behaves like a wagtail, walking along the edges of clear, rushing woodland streams and teetering its rear end up and down with almost every step. Brown above and white below with dark streaks, it is told from the similar Northern Waterthrush by its broader, gleaming white eyebrow that flares behind the eye, a whiter (less buffy) breast, and bright bubblegum-pink legs. It stays low along the water, flipping wet leaves and probing among the stones for aquatic prey.
One of the earliest warblers to return each spring, sometimes in late March, the Louisiana Waterthrush is a specialist of clean, fast-flowing forest streams and wooded ravines, and its presence is often taken as a sign of good water quality, since it depends on the aquatic insects that thrive in unpolluted streams. It breeds locally along suitable streams in Michigan, tucking its nest into a bank or among tree roots at the water's edge, and its loud, ringing song, opening with clear slurred notes, carries over the sound of the running water.
Forages along stream edges for aquatic insects and their larvae, along with other invertebrates and even small salamanders and minnows, flipping wet leaves and probing among stones. Its reliance on the rich insect life of clean, flowing streams makes it a sensitive indicator of good water quality.
The Louisiana has a broad, gleaming white eyebrow that flares behind the eye, a whiter breast, and bright pink legs, and it favors fast-flowing streams. The Northern has a narrower, buffier eyebrow, a more buff-tinged breast, and prefers still, boggy water.
It depends on the aquatic insects that thrive in clean, fast-flowing streams. Because those insects decline in polluted water, the presence of breeding Louisiana Waterthrushes is often taken as a sign of a healthy stream.
Very early for a warbler — sometimes in late March — making it one of the first to return in spring. It breeds locally along clear woodland streams in Michigan and departs by late summer.
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