Northern Waterthrush

The Northern Waterthrush like it's close relative the Louisiana Waterthrush are actually warblers. One of the main differences besides the size is the selected hunting territories. Northern Waterthrushes prefer standing water at the edges of forest such as ponds and lakes while the Louisiana Waterthrush prefers the faster moving water of brooks and streams. Both similar in characteristic put on a dance of the tail wag. They constantly gyrate their tails up and down. Scientist state that this is either to scare there prey into movement or for confusing the prey. They primarily eat insects, grubs, worms and I even saw one with a bee in it's beak. I have noticed that like a chipmunk they keep stuffing their beaks with food but do not actually eat it right away. Not sure if why they do this. Both of these are not too shy and are easy to see but because they move constantly they can be difficult photograph. They range all throught the Northern US, Canada, and even Alaska during mating season and usually chill out in southern US and south America in the winter.