Waterthrush, southern Ontario, May 2016 (1 Viewer)

[D Halas]

I photographed this waterthrush on the 12th of May, 2016, in a suburb to the west of Toronto. At the time, I put it down as a Northern, chiefly because the supercilium didn't broaden at the rear, as I believed a Louisiana Waterthrush's should. Louisiana Waterthrush is also considerably rarer than Northern in southern Ontario. I've been going over my old photos, however, and now that I take a second look at these, I wonder if it isn't a Louisiana after all. I've since read that the supercilium doesn't necessarily get broader at the rear on a Louisiana, and several of the bird's other features look better to me for Louisiana than Northern – in particular, the pattern and density of the streaking on the breast and sides. Comparing my photos to Sibley's illustrations here, the streaking pattern certainly looks closer to that of a Louisiana Thrush. There are a couple of dark spots on the throat, but Sibley says that "some Louisianas have scattered small dots over throat", so that doesn't seem to eliminate a Louisiana Waterthrush as well.

The habitat was a downed willow tree in fairly dense undergrowth immediately next to a fairly broad creek, in a deeply eroded valley. It isn't an area where either waterthrush is known to breed.

So, is this a white-bellied, sparsely-streaked Northern, or a Louisiana with a weak supercilium?

 

[Larry Sweetland]

I see where you're coming from, but I'm getting a Northern feel for this bird on structure, size of bill, supercilium shape, and underpart streaking. That's just my opinion, which could easily be swayed here!

 

[njlarsen]

It is a little funny you say white-bellied when I see a yellow cast (though not equally strong on all images). Another feature pro northern is that I do not see a darkening of the underside color (the base color between the stripes) towards the flank. Louisiana is supposed to have a buffy to brownish cast on the flanks.

Niels

 

[D Halas]

It is a little funny you say white-bellied when I see a yellow cast (though not equally strong on all images). Another feature pro northern is that I do not see a darkening of the underside color (the base color between the stripes) towards the flank. Louisiana is supposed to have a buffy to brownish cast on the flanks.

Niels

I see what you mean, but most of that yellow cast, if not all of it, is due to the light being filtered by the young, newly-emerged foliage on the trees above the bird. I've adjusted some of the photos in Photoshop with the auto tone and auto colour functions to give what I believe would be closer to the actual colour under neutral light. In the three I've attached here, there's much less of a yellow cast, if any. As for the buffy cast on the flanks, that was a concern of mine, too, but unless I'm fooling myself there does appear to be a bit of it in images 1 and 4 – maybe it stands out a bit better in the filtered images?

 

[birdmeister]

In the first image, I get a distinct Northern feel. On a couple others, I'm not so sure. However, I'm still leaning towards Northern.

Bit of a tough bird, though.

 

[Kite]

Agree with Northern

 

[D Halas]

Northern Waterthrush it is. Thanks everyone!