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Northern or Louisiana waterthrush? @ Green Cay
Posted by Justin Miller
over 9 years ago
3 Comments
I'm not terribly familiar with waterthrushes - and have spotted and photographed only one northern waterthrush previously. Tried to identify via online bird guides, but they are fairly similar...so if any can help me ID this guy, I'd appreciate it. Caught this one Saturday, the same day as the wood ducks and blackburnian.
Comments
I don't see the buffy to white, front to back transition on the supercilium that is attributed to Louisiana.
Justin - Some tips:
Timing - Louisiana is an early migrant, both in spring and fall and is already on breeding grounds in NC by late April. Northern has a more protracted migration through South Florida and what we tend to see in late spring.
Field marks - Louisiana has a large, robust bill; streaking is many times blurry and not under the chin; a peach flank patch is usually visible; the supercilium tends to flair toward the back of the head and looks like it wants to meet. Northern tends to have a daintier bill; more defined and intense streaking; the supercilium tends to be the same color as the underparts and it seems to follow the contour of the head.
Subtle differences - There's the chocolate factor (dark Vs. milk chocolate) but Michelle needs to expand on this. Then, there's the tail bobbing differences of up-and-down (Northern) Vs. up-down-and-around (Louisiana) but Elsa needs to demonstrate.
Thank you both. I was suspecting northern mainly as I seemed to see striping under the chin which IDs told me isn't on the Louisiana - but the additional information about their migration seasons is very helpful for the future! I had read about the thicker bill of the Louisiana, but not having ever seen one I didn't have a comparison in my mind. Glad my suspicions and uncertain ID of northern waterthrush was on target - eventually I'll get more confidence to make the declaration myself.
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