Birds of the Upper Cumberland Region: Species Accounts

Louisiana Waterthrush (Parkesia motacilla)

Abundance: Fairly Common during spring and summer; Very Uncommon during early fall; recorded in all Regional counties (Map of UCR Distribution); data from Regional bird-monitoring efforts are few but indicate the population breeding in the Region is probably stable (see also Regional Bird-Monitoring Plan).

Status: Summer Resident; specimen (9 June 1938; 7 mi east of Monticello, Wayne County, Kentucky; W. M. Perrygo; Wetmore 1940); sight records.

Regional High Count: 43 (4 April 2012; boat trip along 12-km [7-mi] section of the Caney Fork River, DeKalb, Putnam, and Smith counties, Tennessee; Mark Taylor, Holly Taylor); SBC/SBB High Count: 24 (26 April 2008; Jackson County, Tennessee [SBB]; m. ob.).

Regional Extreme Dates:

    Spring Arrival: 10 March 2000 (Putnam County, Tennessee; Stephen J. Stedman).

    Fall Departure: 27 August 2006 (Monroe County, Kentucky; Stephen J. Stedman, Winston A. Walden).

    Note: The earliest arriving Louisiana Waterthrushes are usually found at breeding sites sometime during the period of  15–25 March; departs Region extremely early, often not being detected after early to mid- August.  Regional dates of earliest reported spring arrival and latest reported fall departure for 2002–2011 follow:

Breeding: Confirmed (Recent). Another ground-nesting species, this waterthrush often places its nest in a root tangle in a stream-side bank.

Habitat: Small- to medium-sized watercourses in mature deciduous forest.  Much suitable habitat for this warbler is located within the Upper Cumberland Region, and the Regional population is undoubtedly quite large.  The bird counts that result in the highest numbers of this species are the Spring Bird Counts and BirdBlitzes, but numbers of Louisianas on these counts are usually low because accessing large amounts of the preferred habitat is difficult.  The High Count (above) resulted from a survey taken along the Obed River by canoe; see also Remarks (below).

YardWatch Results 2003 and 2004: Registered on 6 (of 125 possible) monthly check-lists during 2003 and on 14 (of 206 possible) check-lists during 2004, each total leading to a YardWatch frequency classification of Uncommon in yards and neighborhoods; this result is not unexpected as most yards and neighborhoods were not located in areas where the preferred habitat (see above) of this warbler is found.

Foray Results: A summary of data from UCR Forays follows (to view a map displaying foray data for a county or a sub-Region for this species, click on the name of an underlined county or state below):

* Because some foray blocks fall into two or three counties, the total of blocks in the Kentucky or Tennessee portions of the Region is less than the sum of the blocks in the counties of each portion of the Region; similarly, because some blocks fall into both states, the total of blocks for the Region is less than the sum of the blocks in the two states.

Remarks: Always among the very first breeding warblers to return in spring, long before the leaves of the deciduous forest in which it dwells have started to emerge, the Louisiana Waterthrush is one of the most reliable harbingers of spring among the Regional avifauna.  Its piercing song, sometimes characterized as the "essence of wildness," is usually the first evidence of its presence to be detected.

    Unlike many species of passerines that hold a breeding territory shaped like a circle or rectangle, the Louisiana Waterthrush holds a linear territory along a stream (or sometimes a lake edge).  The territory varies in length from 100 to 400 m or more, depending on the quality of the resources along the stream or lakeside where the territory is located.  This territory shape and the absence of flocking behavior by this species at any time during its annual cycle make the accumulation of high numbers of Louisianas difficult to achieve, largely accounting for the fairly low numbers listed for the High Counts (above).

Check-lists of Birds for the Counties of the UCR

Check-lists of the birds of each county of the Upper Cumberland Region may be viewed by clicking on the links below. For each county, there are two check-lists: one list that shows the species that have been observed and where possible documented in the county within the larger list for the entire Region; and one list that includes only the species observed in the county with annotations for the date and observers for at least one sighting (the ultimate goal of the latter list will be to include annotations for the very first known Regional observation of each species in that county; this goal is probably one that will take many years to complete, if completion is even a possibility). To see if the species discussed in this species account has been observed in a county, click below or click on the link for the Map of UCR Distribution near the top of the page.

Check-lists of Birds for Some Public Access Birding Sites of the UCR

Check-lists of the birds of some public access birding sites within the Upper Cumberland Region may be viewed via the links below. To see if the species dealt with in this species account has been observed within any of these sites, click on the appropriate link below. See the pages for each county within the Gazetteer for links to additional smaller public access birding sites with check-lists in progress.

Literature Cited