Louisiana Waterthrush (Parkesia motacilla), Willow Tank, Portal, Cochise County

This Louisiana Waterthrush was found and photographed by Shawn Miller on 25 August 2016

Photographed near dusk at the Willow Tank in the water and muck that was just outside the western levee in the south corner. There was also a Northern Waterthrush present (and also photographed). LOWA, I initially observed the NOWA first and started taking field notes on my eBird phone app. When I looked up to find again I got very confused and thought to myself 'this is not a NOWA, it's a LOWA...what were you thinking!'. Only after a few more minutes did I realize there were TWO waterthrushes present, one of each species. Crazy.

A very sparse transient and winter resident in southeastern Arizona. 

The throat of this bird is unmarked and clean white, and the supercilium of this bird broadens behind the eye and is bright white, both good for a Louisiana. An excellent mark is the color of the flanks. In Northerns the underparts can range from yellow to off-white, but in any case the underparts are uniform. Louisianas often have a distinct pink or buffy wash along the flank.

25 August 2016, photo by Shawn Miller