The Herald of Spring
Early this morning – a gray, cloudy, cool day – a clear, ringing song rose from down along the creek that runs through the woods. The soaring notes announced the approach of spring with a flourish like a fanfare, as they do every year about this time. A Louisiana Waterthrush has returned. Today is the first time I’ve heard one here this spring. Its arrival marks the beginning of the spring migration season, so its song always seems to me like a herald of spring – three or four clear, strong whistled notes, followed by a tumble of other jumbled phrases.
A Louisiana Waterthrush is one of the first migrant songbirds to return here from its winter home further south, arriving when the trees are still bare, the fields still brown, and often – though not this year – when the weather still feels like winter. A small, plump wood warbler, it has a dark-brown back, white breast streaked with brown, and a bright white stripe over the eye. Louisiana Waterthrush hunt along wooded streams for insects, earthworms, crustaceans and other small prey, and nest along the banks of the stream, sometimes among the exposed roots of trees.
Because of their secluded habitat, they’re not widely familiar birds, not often seen, but they are birds with personality, lots of fun to watch – and if they’re around, they’re not too hard to find. Walking along the edge of a creek on long pink legs, they bob their tails up and down almost constantly, searching crevices and hollows in the sides of the stream, walking over rocks, on small sandbars, over a fallen log or along a branch.
While Louisiana Waterthrush can be found throughout a large part of the eastern U.S., they are not abundant in any part of their range. Because they prefer clear streams and wooded habitat, their presence is considered a good indicator of the health of a stream – but that preference also puts them at risk as development spreads and stream water gets clouded from silt and other pollution. So each year it’s a good sign to hear that song again, encouraging to know they’ve returned.