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Northern Waterthrush | Parkesia noveboracensis
Noordse waterlijster | Chipe charquero | Mariquita-boreal
The Northern Waterthrush is a brown, streaked warbler that constantly bobs its rear up and down near water. It is the most widespread waterthrush in the guide area: in the northern winter it is common in Colombia in mangroves and wet woodland, becoming scarcer further south.
Voice
A loud, metallic chink, often the first clue. The song is a rapid, loud series of clear notes that speeds up at the end; on the wintering grounds mainly heard in spring.
Recording: Cassin Finch — CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 · xeno-canto
Identification
14–15 cm. The upperparts are plain dark olive-brown. A long, narrow, yellowish to whitish supercilium of roughly even width behind the eye. The underparts are pale yellow to off-white and densely streaked dark, including the throat. The legs are pink. The sexes are alike.
Confusion species
Louisiana Waterthrush Parkesia motacilla is slightly larger, with a heavier bill, a broad white supercilium that widens behind the eye, an unstreaked white throat and buff flanks contrasting with the white belly. Ovenbird Seiurus aurocapilla has an orange crown stripe and a white eye-ring. Buff-rumped Warbler Myiothlypis fulvicauda also wags its tail along streams, but has unstreaked underparts and a buff rump and tail base.
Habitat
On the wintering grounds mainly in mangroves and swamp forest, along the banks of streams, ponds and rivers and in wet spots in gardens and plantations, mostly below 1500 m, higher on migration. It walks over mud and among tree roots, feeding on insects, small crustaceans and other invertebrates at the water's edge. It does not breed in the guide area.
Where the bird is most at home, classified by the vegetation units of the Andes and the west coast.
Range and movements
Winter visitor, mainly September to April. In Colombia common in the lowlands and into the Andean valleys, especially in the mangroves of the Caribbean and Pacific coasts. In Ecuador fairly common in the lowlands west and east of the Andes. In Peru scarce, mainly in the north and in the Amazonian lowlands. In Bolivia rare. Virtually absent from the Galápagos. Breeds in northern North America and winters from Florida and Mexico to northern South America.
- Winter visitor (c. Oct–Mar)
- dark = core range, pale = thinly spread
How and when to look
In the winter months, search along mangrove edges and in wet thickets; the bird gives itself away by its metallic chink and the constant bobbing of its rear.
Conservation status
Least Concern. The species has a large breeding range; on the wintering grounds it depends heavily on mangroves and other wet forest, which are cleared locally.
Scientific name
Parkesia noveboracensis | (Gmelin, 1789)
Gmelin described the species in 1789 as Motacilla noveboracensis; because it was later moved to another genus, the author and year stand in brackets. The genus Parkesia was introduced in 2008 by Sangster. The genus name honours the American ornithologist Kenneth Carroll Parkes (1922–2007), long-time Curator of Birds at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History. The species name refers to New York (Latin Novum Eboracum), not necessarily the type locality. The specimen the first description was based on came from Louisiana and New York, United States.