ABA Online Bird Photo Quiz 49
Answer
Structure, structure, structure. While it's difficult to make out subtle details with a bird facing directly at you, we can still see that this bird's bill is relatively short (much shorter than, say, a yellowlegs) and relatively thin and narrow (more so at least than, say, a Song Sparrow or a bunting). And our bird is perched in a tree or shrub—not on the ground or on the beach.
This, combined with brownish streaking across the breast and a broad pale supercilum, should bring us to a small handful of birds. Pipits are plausible, but the common pipits in North America are infrequently seen in trees, so let's consider them only if we don't come up with another option. Thrushes don't fit because they have spotting on the breast, not streaking as on our bird. While sparrows are streaked, the bill seems too small and the overall coloration doesn't quite fit any species.
Brown and white plumage isn't something typically associated with warblers, but the two waterthrushes fit our bird quite well. Ovenbird is similar, but has a bold white eye ring and paler lores.
Separating the two waterthrushes is often quite challenging...and a single photo can prove particularly misleading. The supercilium of Louisiana is broader and bolder than on Northern, and this bird seems to have a broad supercilum from what little we can see. But at this angle, it's a bit of a stretch to see this well. Our bird may also be raising its' crown feathers, which could lead us to misinterpret this oft quoted field mark.
Fortunately, we can see two things very clearly. First, the throat appears completely unmarked—a feature typical of Lousiana Waterthrush (Northern are usually streaked on the throat). Second, and perhaps most importantly, the streaking across the breast is quite sparse and appears washed out. The lower breast has very short streaks and the belly is white. On Northern Waterthrush the streaking across the breast is bolder, darker, and far more extensive. This difference is quite clear cut on this particular bird—no Northern Waterthrush would have such limited streaking on the underparts.
This Louisiana Waterthrush was photographed near San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico in March 2007.
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The following people (listed by submission date beginning with the earliest) submitted correct answers for the April Bird Photo Quiz—Louisiana Waterthrush:
- Mike Burrell, Heidelberg, Ontario
- Joshua Covill, Columbia Falls, MT
- Brandon Percival, Pueblo West, CO
- Ethan Kistler, Newton Falls, Ohio
- Alan Meijer, Pantego, NC
- Karl Erich Mayer, Saint Clair Shores, MI
- Steven Rodan, Cape May, NJ
- Mikey Lumerding, Frostburg, MD
- Urs Geiser, Woodridge, IL
- Adam Nisbett, Saint James, MO
- Brian E. Small, Los Angeles, CA
- Terri Everett, Big Rapids, MI
- Jeremy Faucher, Enfield CT
- Anthony Bledsoe, Pittsburgh, PA
- Jill Buckley, Socorro, NM
- Philip Kline, Tucson, AZ
- David Bell, Sault Ste. Marie, ON
- George Cresswell, Colorado Springs, CO
- Jay Keller, Arlington, VA
- André Pelletier, La Prairie, Quebec, Canada
- Curtis Dykstra, Washington, NC
- Micah Malueg, Hooper, CO
- Alex Ewing, Rocky Hill, NJ
- Sophie Cauchon, La Prairie, Quebec, Canada
- Phoebe Mundall, Tai Chung , TAIWAN
- Michael Miller, Chicago. Illinois
- Rick Poulin, Ottawa Ontario
- Josh Southern, Apex, NC
- Nicholas Pederson, Albuquerque, NM
- Steve Hampton, Davis, CA
- Jonathan Comeau, Williston, VT
- Larry Mays, Newcastle, OK
- John Bissell, Grimes, IA
- Sam Galick, Flemington, NJ
- kurt Pohlman, kaneohe Hi.
- Nicholas Block, Chicago, IL
- Marc Ribaudo, Woodbridge, VA
- Don Koch, Salineville, OH
- Frances Geller, New York, NY
- Gay McDougall, Beaconsfield, QC
- Lisa Snowberg, Austin, TX
- June Taylor, Stafford, UK
- Louie Toth, Fairview Heights, IL
- John Britt, Bakersville, NC
- Claire Gribbin, Seattle, WA
- Linda Long, Chandler, AZ
- Eric Huston, Olympia, WA
- Grant Rettig, San Luis Obispo, CA
- Julie Keefer, Raleigh, NC
- Larry Lade, Saint Joseph, MO
- Andy Bankert, Melbourne Beach, FL
- Julia C. Pappas, Salt Flat, TX
- Hugh Rose, Richfield, OH
- Daniel Small, Chestertown, MD
- Alfred Raab, Brampton, ON
- Seabrooke Leckie, Toronto, Ontario
- Philip Chaon, Cleveland Heights, OH
- Ian Davies, Medford, MA
- Claude Morris, Austin, TX
- Carrie Deegan, Huntington, VT
- Brooke, Santa Barbara, CA
- Matthew Daw, Raleigh, NC
- Aaron R. Polichar, San Diego, CA
- Richard Garrigues, San Antonio de Belen, Heredia, Costa Rica
- Robert Mottershead, Philadelphia, PA
- Dominic Cormier, Halifax, Nova Scotia
- Joseph Lautenbach, Grand Rapids, MI
- Wlater Everotn, Nashville, TN
- Paul Glass, South Boston, VA
- Lori Fujimoto, Colorado Springs, CO
- Julie Cocke, Jacksonville, FL
- codie otte, san francisco, ca
- Mark Dettling, Modesto, CA
- Su Snyder, Wooster, OH
- Priscilla Lai, Markham, Ontario
- Michael Woodruff, Spokane, WA
- Richard Hibpshman, Issaquah, WA
- Beth Davis, Wilmington, NC
- Melissa Hein, North Branch, MN
- David Hollie, Ringgold, GA
- Marcelo Brongo, Barcelona, Spain
- Cynthia Taylor, Tucson, AZ
- Matt Pike, Baghdad Iraq
- Sean Williams, South Boston, MA
- Chris Warren, Portland, OR
- John G. Anderson, Reno, Nevada
- Dave Nurney, UK
- Joshua Gahagan, Oakham, MA
- Gerald Joseph Brow & Anne A Brow, Cedar, MI
- Bobby Walsh, Valencia, CA
- bob fisher, downers grove IL
- karen fisher, downers grove IL
- Andre Moncrieff, Berrien Springs, MI
- Kevin Reid, Chester NH
- Mary Austin, Grand Rapids, MI
- Tim Hodge, Roseland, VA
- Michael Hilchey, Albuquerque, NM
- Cathy Carroll, Dearborn, MIchigan
- Peter Osswald, Lindenhurst, NY
- Alex Lin-Moore, Houston, TX
- nell haberman, portland, Oregon
- Jonathan Lautenbach, Grand Rapids, MI
- David Perpinan, Omaha, NE
- John Brush Jr., Mattituck, NY
- Liis Veelma, Winnipeg, MB
- Jacob Saucier, Baton Rouge, LA
- Benjamin Berkompas, WA
- James McKay, Mesa, AZ
- Steven Shultz, Apex, NC
- Steve Steimel, Severna Park, MD
- Charles Holbrook, Dataw Island SC
- Haynes Werner, Beaufort SC
- Francesc Jutglar, Cardedeu, Spain
- James McRacken, Charlotte, NC
- Diana Bradshaw, Damascus, Oregon
- Greg Zupansic, Eugene, Oregon
- Anton Mach, Yardley, PA
- Ryan Dudragne, Swift Current, SK
- Marlene Jay Cashen, Veradale, Washington
- Yukii Lepas, kennebunkport, maine
- Harry Hooper, Tallahassee, Florida
- Pam Baum, Tucson, AZ
- Prabha Acharya, College Station, TX
- Jim Kopitzke, Mesa AZ
- Adrian Azpiroz, St. Louis, MO
- Kurt Hennige, Bath, Ontario
- Mary Villarreal, Pasadena, CA
- Blake Mathys, Milltown, NJ
- Bill Hintze, Berwick, PA
- Lindsay Swanson, Portland, OR
- Linda Swanson, San Francisco, CA
- Yves Gauthier, Montreal, Qc, Canada
- Jon R. Mundall, Connell, WA
- Marcus Mundall, Bairnsdale, Victoria, Australia
- Cathy Ricketts, Savannah, GA
- Josh Shramo, Dillon, CO
- Sarah J. Zastrow, Riverdale Park, MD
- Tom Benson, San Bernardino, CA
- Philip Stahl, Fordville, ND
- Rita Stahl, Fordville, ND
- Barb Duncan, Jefferson City, MO
- Joel Mundall, Loma Linda, CA
- Eddie Mundall, Yreka, CA
- Susan Work, Encinitas, CA
- Rich Swartzentruber, Salem, OR
- David Crisman, Tigard, OR
- Kathryn Holm, Tamuning, GU
How Did You Compare?
As stated in the quiz rules, answers must consist simply of the Common or English name exactly as it appears in the ABA Checklist.
The following list shows the number of submissions for each species guessed.
- Louisiana Waterthrush
- 147
- Northern Waterthrush
- 87
- Hermit Thrush
- 6
- Swainson's Thrush
- 6
- American Pipit
- 5
- Fox Sparrow
- 4
- Savannah Sparrow
- 3
- Olive-backed Pipit
- 2
- Ovenbird
- 2
- Palm Warbler
- 2
- Redwing
- 2
- Song Sparrow
- 2
- Wood Thrush
- 2
- Black-and-white Warbler
- 1
- Black-throated Sparrow
- 1
- Cactus Wren
- 1
- Cassin's Sparrow
- 1
- Chipping Sparrow
- 1
- European Starling
- 1
- Red-winged Blackbird
- 1
- Veery
- 1
- Vesper Sparrow
- 1
- White-throated Sparrow
- 1
- Yellow-rumped Warbler
- 1
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The photo and answer for this quiz were supplied by Chris Wood.