Parkesia noveboracensis
The Northern Waterthrush (Parkesia noveboracensis) is a striking and enigmatic New World warbler, often mistaken for a thrush due to its terrestrial habits and distinctive gait. Measuring 4.7-5.9 inches (12-15 cm) in length with a wingspan of 8.3-9.1 inches (21-23 cm) and weighing 0.5-0.7 ounces (13-21 g), it sports a dull olive-brown back, dark streaked yellow underparts, and a prominent, creamy-white supercilium that often flares behind the eye. Its most defining field mark is the constant,...
This species thrives in forested wetlands, bogs, swamps, and along the banks of slow-moving streams and ponds, typically at low to moderate elevations.
Primarily insectivorous, feeding on a wide variety of aquatic invertebrates, insect larvae, small crustaceans, and occasionally tiny fish, captured by gleaning, probing, or snatching from water or mud.
Northern Waterthrushes are primarily diurnal, spending their active hours foraging along the edges of shallow water, often under dense cover. Their foraging strategy involves wading, picking insects from the water surface, gleaning them from muddy substrates, or probing under decaying logs and ta...
The Northern Waterthrush boasts a vast breeding range extending across the boreal forests of Canada and Alaska, reaching south into the northernmost tier of the contiguous United States, including states like Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, New York, and parts of New England. During the non-breed...
Least Concern
- Despite its common name, the Northern Waterthrush is a New World warbler, not a thrush. - Its distinctive, constant tail-bobbing behavior is thought to help startle hidden prey or maintain balance on slippery terrain. - They are champion singers, producing one of the loudest and most emphatic s...