Montana Field Guide

Dark brown above, whitish to pale yellowish below and supercilium. Dark streaking on breast. Best distinguished from very similar Louisiana Waterthrush by thinner, more yellowish supercilium and typically spotted throat, drabber leg color. Habitat should be considered when identifying waterthrushes. Song is best indicator of species.

For a comprehensive review of the conservation status, habitat use, and ecology of this and other Montana bird species, please see Marks et al. 2016, Birds of Montana.

In Bozeman area, normal migration periods are May 18 to 28 and late August.

Breeds in cool, dark wooded swamps, thickets of bogs, margins of northern lakes, debris-strewn shores, and willow and alder bordered rivers. Most North American birdwatchers see it only on migration in back yards, city parks, and wet places, as it migrates to and from its wintering grounds in the tropical mangroves of Central and South America (Eaton 1995).

Breeding season: predominantly larval and adult insects, spiders, and snails. On winter range in mangroves, beetles, ants, flies, insect larvae, snails and decapod crustaceans (Eaton 1995).

The preferred nest site is in cavities of root systems of wind-blown trees in wooded swamps, or on sides of fern clumps or under cover along banks of lakes or rivers. Eggs are ovate, white in color and dotted, spotted or blotched. Clutch size ranges 1 to 5 eggs (Eaton 1995). Statewide, nesting is from mid-Jun to mid-July. Near Fortine, dependent, flying young seen from July 1 to 30.