Northern Waterthrush - BirdForum Opus

Photo by Dave Hawkins

Seiurus noveboracensis

Identification

12-14 cm. Brown back. Whitish or creamy underside with dark stripes. Whitish or yellowish eyestripe. Sexes look alike.

Distribution

Alaska, most of Canada south to the northern U.S. in eastern Washington, northern Idaho and western Montana; in the east south to Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania and West Virginia.
Winters to the West Indies and northern South America.

Taxonomy

Consists of three subspecies.

Subspecies

Clements considers this a monotypic species¹ while Dunn et al.² recognize the following three subspecies:

• S. n. limnaeus - breeds in central British Columbia
• S. n. notabilis - breeds across the western range to western Quebec
• S. n. noveboracensis - breeds from eastern Quebec to the southern part of range

AOU have moved this species to genus Parkesia; the opus is awaiting the position of the world-wide checklists before following along.

Habitat

Wooded swamps, thickets of bogs, margins of northern lakes, and willow and alder bordered rivers.

Behaviour

Song loud and ringing, starts with several phrases on one pitch, followed by an accelerating jumble of short, rapid phrases dropping slightly in pitch. Call a sharp, metallic "chink."

References

1. Clements, JF. 2009. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to December 2009. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019.
2. Dunn, Jon; Garrett, Kimball. 1997. A Field Guide to Warblers of North America. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company. ISBN 9780395783214
3. 51st supplement to the AOU checklist of North American birds

External Links

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