northern waterthrush

The northern waterthrush was formally described in 1789 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in his revised and expanded edition of Carl Linnaeus's Systema Naturae. He placed it with the wagtails in the genus Motacilla and coined the binomial name Motacilla noveboracensis.{{ cite book | last=Gmelin | first=Johann Friedrich | author-link=Johann Friedrich Gmelin| year=1789 | title=Systema naturae per regna tria naturae : secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis | edition=13th | volume=1, Part 2 | language=Latin | location=Lipsiae [Leipzig] | publisher=Georg. Emanuel. Beer | page=958 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/2656453 }}{{ cite book | editor-last=Paynter | editor-first=Raymond A. Jr | year=1968 | title=Check-List of Birds of the World | volume=14 | publisher=Museum of Comparative Zoology | place=Cambridge, Massachusetts | page=35 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/14481236 }} Gmelin based his account on descriptions of the species by earlier authors, none of whom had coined a binomial name. In 1778 the French polymath the Comte de Buffon had described "La fauvette tacheté de la Louisiane" in his book Histoire Naturelle des Oiseaux. A hand-coloured engraving by François-Nicolas Martinet was published separately to accompany Buffon's text.{{ cite book | last1=Buffon | first1=Georges-Louis Leclerc de | author1-link=Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon | last2=Martinet | first2=François-Nicolas | author2-link=François-Nicolas Martinet | last3=Daubenton | first3=Edme-Louis | author3-link=Edme-Louis Daubenton | last4=Daubenton | first4=Louis-Jean-Marie | author4-link=Louis-Jean-Marie Daubenton | year=1765–1783 | chapter=Fauvette tacheté, de la Louisiane | title=Planches Enluminées D'Histoire Naturelle | volume=8 | location=Paris | publisher=De L'Imprimerie Royale | at=Plate 752, Fig. 1 | chapter-url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/35218399 }} The species was later described under the name "New York warbler" by the English ornithologist John Latham in 1783 and by the Welsh naturalist Thomas Pennant in 1785.{{ cite book | last=Latham | first=John | author-link=John Latham (ornithologist) | year=1783 | title=A General Synopsis of Birds | volume=2, Part 2 | publisher=Printed for Leigh and Sotheby | location=London | pages=436-437 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/33730508 }}{{cite book | last=Pennant | first=Thomas | author-link=Thomas Pennant | year=1785 | title=Arctic Zoology | volume=2 | publisher=Printed by Henry Hughs | location=London | page=409 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/32122185 }} The northern waterthrush is now placed together with the Louisiana waterthrush in the genus Parkesia that was introduced in 2008 by George Sangster.{{cite web| editor1-last=Gill | editor1-first=Frank | editor1-link=Frank Gill (ornithologist) | editor2-last=Donsker | editor2-first=David | editor3-last=Rasmussen | editor3-first=Pamela | editor3-link=Pamela C. Rasmussen | date=August 2024 | title=New World warblers, mitrospingid tanagers | work=IOC World Bird List Version 14.2 | url=https://www.worldbirdnames.org/bow/warblers/ | publisher=International Ornithologists' Union | access-date=24 February 2025 }} The genus name was chosen to honour the American ornithologist Kenneth Carroll Parkes.{{ cite web | last=Jobling | first=James A. | title=Parkesia | work=The Key to Scientific Names | url=https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/key-to-scientific-names/search?q=Parkesia | publisher=Cornell Lab of Ornithology | access-date=24 February 2025 }} The specific epithet noveboracensis is for New York, United States. It combines novus meaning "new" with Eboracum, the Latin name for York, England).{{ cite web | last=Jobling | first=James A. | title=noveboracensis | work=The Key to Scientific Names | url=https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/key-to-scientific-names/search?q=noveboracensis | publisher=Cornell Lab of Ornithology | access-date=24 February 2025 }} Latham had mentioned that the species was "met with in the hedges about New York". The species is considered to be monotypic: no subspecies are recognised.

The northern waterthrush is a large New World warbler (and not a thrush, despite the name). It has a length of {{convert|12|–|15|cm|in|abbr=on}}, wingspan of {{convert|21|–|24|cm|in|abbr=on}} and weighs between {{convert|13|and|25|g|oz|abbr=on}}{{cite web |url=http://bna.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/182/ |author=Eaton, S. W. |title=Northern Waterthrush (Parkesia noveboracensis), The Birds of North America Online|year=1995 |access-date=2008-04-16|publisher=Cornell Lab of Ornithology |location=Ithaca, NY}}{{cite web |url=http://www.enature.com/fieldguides/detail.asp?recNum=BD0379 |title=FieldGuides: Northern Waterthrush Species Detail |author= |website=eNature.com |access-date=2012-08-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140528010128/http://www.enature.com/fieldguides/detail.asp?recNum=BD0379 |archive-date=2014-05-28 |url-status=dead }} Among standard measurements, the wing chord is {{convert|6.8|to|8.2|cm|in|abbr=on}}, the tail is {{convert|4.5|to|5.7|cm|in|abbr=on}}, the bill is {{convert|1.1|to|1.2|cm|in|abbr=on}} and the tarsus is {{convert|1.9|to|2.3|cm|in|abbr=on}}.{{cite book |last1=Curson |first1=Jon |last2=Quinn |first2=David |last3=Beadle |first3=David |date=1994 |title=New World Warblers: An Identification Guide |publisher=Christopher Helm Publishers |isbn=978-0-7136-3932-2 }} 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. 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.

Image: Northern_Waterthrush_Tex.jpg

The species may be visually confused for the closely related Louisiana waterthrush (Parkesia motacilla), 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.{{Cite book | last=Sibley | first=David | year=2000 | title=The Sibley Guide to Birds | location=New York | publisher=Alfred A. Knopf | isbn=9780679451228 | pages = 449 }}

Both waterthrush species walk rather than hop, and seem to teeter, since they bob their rear ends as they move along.{{Citation needed|date=June 2024}}

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.{{Cite journal |last1=Warkentin |first1=Ian G |last2=Fisher |first2=Allison L |last3=Flemming |first3=Stephen P |last4=Roberts |first4=Shawn E |date=2003-05-01 |title=Response to clear-cut logging by northern waterthrushes |url=http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/10.1139/x03-002 |journal=Canadian Journal of Forest Research |language=en |volume=33 |issue=5 |pages=755–762 |doi=10.1139/x03-002 |issn=0045-5067|url-access=subscription }}

On the wintering grounds in Puerto Rico, northern waterthrushes leave daytime foraging areas and fly up to {{convert|2|km|mi|abbr=on}} to nighttime roosts. The roosts are often located in red mangrove habitats. Northern waterthrushes winter in 4 main habitats in Puerto Rico: white mangrove, red mangrove, black mangrove, and scrub. 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.

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.{{cite journal |last=Harris |first=G. J. |author2=Parslow J. L. F. |date=November 1960 |title=Northern Waterthrush in the Isles of Scilly: a bird new to Great Britain and Ireland |url=http://www.britishbirds.co.uk/search?id=3486 |journal=British Birds |volume=53 |issue=11 |pages=513–8 |author-link2=John Parslow |access-date=2 May 2022}}{{Cite book |last1=Sharrock |first1=J. T. R. |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/757722638 |title=Birds new to Britain and Ireland: original accounts from the monthly journal British birds |last2=Grant |first2=P. J. |publisher=A & C Black |year=2010 |isbn=978-1-4081-3844-1 |location=[London] |pages=95 |oclc=757722638}} There have been eight recorded sightings in the UK between 1958 and 2024.{{Cite web |title=BTO BirdFacts {{!}} Northern Waterthrush |url=https://www.bto.org/understanding-birds/birdfacts/northern-waterthrush|website=British Trust for Ornithology |date=24 March 2023}}{{cite news| last1=Woodward | first1=Stuart | last2=Chaudhari | first2=Shivani | title=Northern Waterthrush sighting in Heybridge attracts hundreds | publisher=BBC News | date=5 January 2024 | url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-essex-67890718}} An exceptional record comes from Antofagasta, Chile.{{Cite web |title=Northern Waterthrush - eBird |url=https://ebird.org/species/norwat |access-date=2024-06-08 |website=ebird.org |language=en}}

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.{{Cite journal | last1=Smith | first1=J.A.M. | last2=Reitsma | first2=L.R. | last3=Marra | first3=P.P. | date=2010 | title=Moisture as a determinant of habitat quality for a nonbreeding Neotropical migratory songbird | volume=91 | issue=10 | journal=Ecology | doi=10.1890/09-2212.1 | pages=2874–2882 }}

The breeding habitat of the northern waterthrush is wet woodlands near water, especially rivers and streams. It will occasionally nest in upland areas in the roots of fallen trees.{{Cite journal |last=Warkentin |first=Ian G. |last2=Roberts |first2=Shawn E. |last3=Flemming |first3=Stephen P. |last4=Fisher |first4=Allison L. |date=2004 |title=Nest-site characteristics of Northern Waterthrushes |journal=Journal of Field Ornithology |volume=75 |issue=1 |pages=79–88 |doi=10.1648/0273-8570-75.1.79}} Northern waterthrushes build a cup nest constructed of leaves, bark strips, and rootlets in cavities or among tree roots.Easton, S.W. 1995. Northern Waterthrush (Seiurus noveboracensis). In: The birds of North America (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.), no. 182. Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, PA, and American Ornithologists’ Union, Washington, D.C It lays three to six eggs, cream- or buff-colored, with brown and gray spots.

The northern waterthrush is a terrestrial ground feeder, eating insects, spiders,{{cite web|title=Parkesia noveboracensis (Northern Waterthrush) |website=The Online Guide to the Animals of Trinidad and Tobago| publisher=UWI |url=https://sta.uwi.edu/fst/lifesciences/sites/default/files/lifesciences/documents/ogatt/Parkesia_noveboracensis%20-%20Northern%20Waterthrush.pdf}}{{cite web | url=https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Seiurus_noveboracensis/ | title=Seiurus noveboracensis (Northern waterthrush) | website=Animal Diversity Web }} mollusks (such as snails), worms, and crustaceans found amongst leaf litter, as well as minnows, found by wading through water.

File:Seiurus_noveboracensisEMP17CB.jpg|left|Illustration by Louis Agassiz Fuertes

File:Northern Waterthrush (8434446638).jpg|alt=Note the whitish variation coloring and dark eye-liner.|Northern waterthrush with whitish plumage variation

File:20240916 northern waterthrush point meadows PD205265.jpg|Perched

{{Reflist|30em|refs=

{{cite journal|author1=R. Terry Chesser |author2=Richard C. Banks |author3=F. Keith Barker |author4=Carla Cicero |author5=Jon L. Dunn |author6=Andrew W. Kratter |author7=Kirby J. Lovette |author8=Pamela C. Ramussen |author9=J. V. Remsen Jr. |author10=James D. Rising |author11=Douglas F. Stotz |author12=Kevin Winker |name-list-style=amp |year= 2010|title= Fifty-First Supplement to the American Ornithologists' Union Check-List of North American Birds|journal= The Auk |volume=127|issue=3|pages=726–744|doi=10.1525/auk.2010.127.4.966|s2cid=198156876 |url=http://www.aou.org/checklist/suppl/AOU_checklist_suppl_51.pdf}}

{{cite journal|url=http://nationalzoo.si.edu/scbi/migratorybirds/science_article/pdfs/62.pdf|author=Smith, J. A. M.|author2=Reitsma, L. R.|author3=Rockwood, L. L.|author4=Marra, P. P.|name-list-style=amp|year=2008|title=Roosting behavior of a Neotropical migrant songbird, the northern waterthrush Seiurus noveboracensis, during the non-breeding season|journal=Journal of Avian Biology|volume=39|issue=4 |pages=460–465|doi=10.1111/j.0908-8857.2008.04227.x|access-date=2012-08-24|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130423041437/http://nationalzoo.si.edu/scbi/migratorybirds/science_article/pdfs/62.pdf|archive-date=2013-04-23|url-status=dead}}

}}

{{Commons category|Parkesia noveboracensis}}

{{Wikispecies|Parkesia noveboracensis}}

• [http://nationalzoo.si.edu/scbi/migratorybirds/science_article/?id=164 Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center - Northern waterthrush research]
• [http://www.mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov/id/framlst/i6750id.html Northern waterthrush - Seiurus noveboracensis] - USGS Patuxent Bird Identification InfoCenter
• [http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Northern_Waterthrush/id Northern waterthrush species account] – Cornell Lab of Ornithology
• {{InternetBirdCollection|northern-waterthrush-seiurus-noveboracensis|Northern waterthrush}}
• {{VIREO|northern+waterthrush|Northern waterthrush}}

{{Taxonbar|from1=Q27075884|from2=Q1027429}}

northern waterthrush

Category:Birds of North America

Category:Native birds of Alaska

Category:Birds of Canada

Category:Birds of the Dominican Republic

northern waterthrush

Category:Taxa named by Johann Friedrich Gmelin