The winged harbinger of spring

It’s early April and the warm spring sunshine is beckoning you to the woods. The forest floor is still mostly gray and brown, here and there a bloodroot or spring beauty has pushed its sparkling white head above the leaf litter.

As you stop along the stream bank, bending down to get a better look at the unfurling flower, the quiet woods are rocked by three loud ringing whistles. The whistles may be all you hear, but if you’re close enough or if the early spring woods are quiet enough, you will hear a tinkling of musical notes like fairy laughter following the loud whistles.

This is the Louisiana waterthrush’s way of saying spring is, indeed, here. This dapper, diminutive chorister is sleek brown above with a bold white eyestripe and brown-streaked breast and flanks. It’s believed its big voice evolved so the male could be heard above the rapids and riffles of the stream as he tries to establish a territory and find a mate.

The Louisiana waterthrush is one of — if not the — first wood warblers to return to nesting grounds in the Southern Appalachians. If you hear this song streamside, it’s worth your effort to seek the little songster out and watch him as he teeter-totters along the stream bank, constantly bobbing his tail as he forages.

A close relative follows on the heels of the Louisiana waterthrush. The northern waterthrush does not nest in the Smokies but migrates through. It is almost a dead ringer for its cousin. It has a brown back with brown streaking on its breast and flanks like the Louisiana, but the eyestripe is creamy or buffy and the throat is finely streaked, whereas the Louisiana has a clear throat.

They prefer different habitats — with Louisianas sticking to fast moving streams and northerns preferring swampy areas with sluggish or standing water. But sometimes, in migration, northerns can be found along stream banks. Besides the subtle differences in appearance, there are also differences in voice. You likely won’t hear northern waterthrushes singing during migration but their chip note is louder and has more bass to it than the Louisiana.

So when you can’t stand it anymore and hit the woods keep an ear, and then an eye, out for this winged harbinger of spring.