The Northern Waterthrush is a warbler that acts like a shorebird, walking rather than hopping along the muddy edges of wooded wetlands and teetering its rear end up and down with almost every step. Brown above and heavily streaked below over a buff-tinged breast, with a bold buffy eyebrow, it stays low near water and is more often heard than seen. Its song is loud and emphatic — a ringing, downslurred series that carries through the swamp — and its sharp, metallic "chink" call note is a familiar sound in wet thickets.
Despite the name it is not a thrush but a ground-loving warbler, one of two waterthrush species in the region. The Northern breeds in wooded swamps, bog edges, and shrubby streamsides across northern Michigan, foraging for aquatic insects, snails, and other invertebrates along the water's edge, and it passes through the rest of the state as a migrant. Its constant tail-bobbing and streaky underparts make it recognizable even in the dim light of a shaded swamp.
Forages by walking along the edges of wooded water, flipping wet leaves and probing mud for aquatic and terrestrial insects, snails, small crustaceans, and other invertebrates. It hunts at the waterline in swamps, bogs, and streamsides rather than gleaning in the canopy like most warblers.
No. Despite its thrush-like brown, streaked appearance and ground-foraging habits, it is a warbler. The name reflects its looks and behavior, not its family.
The Northern Waterthrush teeters its rear end up and down almost constantly as it walks along the water's edge. The reason is not fully understood, but the behavior is a reliable way to recognize the bird.
The two are very similar, but the Northern has a buff-tinged, more heavily streaked breast, a narrower buffy eyebrow, and usually a streaked throat, and favors still, boggy water. The Louisiana has a whiter breast, a broader white eyebrow, and prefers moving streams.
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