Migration has slowed down a lot this week as a high pressure ridge has shifted local winds to southerly and now easterly. We still have a few Louisiana waterthrushes moving through, however, and this individual was quite cooperative for the paparazzi.
Left: Northern waterthrush Right: Louisiana waterthrush
We captured him at the same time as a Northern waterthrush, so it was fun to compare the two. The Louisiana is a slightly larger bird with a white throat, bolder stripe over the eye, and somewhat ‘blurrier’ streaking below. Their chip note is also less metallic than the Northern. Some Northerns can be very yellowish below, depending on the subspecies. This one looked more yellow in the hand than the photo shows.
Today’s volunteers (left to right) Liz Golden, Lawrence Lopez, David Schaffter and Kelley Erickson got to enjoy the theme of little brown birds. Today’s nine captures:
Ovenbird: 2
Worm-eating warbler: 2
Northern waterthrush: 2
Louisiana waterthrush: 1
Swainson’s warbler: 1
Prairie warbler: 1