The arrival of spring is often announced by an increased cacophony of bird songs outside your window. Songbirds generally start practicing their songs on the wintering grounds and continue to practice as they migrate back to their breeding grounds. This means it all reaches a crescendo during April and May when the breeders are beginning to arrive, the migrants are passing through and the wintering birds are getting ready to leave.
Two days ago, fellow naturalist Jennifer Roder alerted me that she heard a new song behind the Visitor Center. As soon as I stepped out the door, I heard the loud song of a Louisiana waterthrush (Parkesia motacilla). They are one of the first migrants to arrive back in Tennessee.
I quickly grabbed my binoculars and ran down the trail. I knew exactly where to find him. Waterthrushes forage, sing and build their nests along streams in forested areas. True to form, this beautiful bird was singing right off of the Discovery Trail by the stream. We got several great looks at him as he held his bill to the sky and belted out his song as loud as he could.
Waterthrushes aren’t actually thrushes. They are warblers, but they look more like small thrushes or sparrows. Their distinct song and tendency to bob their tails as they walk along the edges of streams make them easy to recognize.
When H.P. Ijams lived here, during the 1930s and ‘40s he observed Louisiana waterthrushes nesting alongside the very stream where this guy was singing. We haven’t documented any nesting here recently, but we will continue to keep our eyes and ears open for this exciting bird.
- By Emily Boves
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