Veeries and Northern Waterthrushes

     On May 5, 2015, I stopped along a 20-yard stretch of a stream in a 30-acre woodlot a mile and a half south of New Holland, Pennsylvania to look for neotropical birds returning to the woodlands of eastern North America to nest.  I saw a few species, including common yellow-throat warblers and yellow-rumped warblers.  I saw a striking male indigo bunting and several gray catbirds in patches of multiflora rose on the edge of the waterway and woodland.  And I saw a pair each of permanent resident northern cardinals and blue jays and a pair of wood ducks on the stream.  And I heard a few permanent resident red-bellied woodpeckers calling to each other.  But the two most outstanding and beautiful migrant birds along the stream in that little woodlot were a veery and a northern waterthrush.  Both these species of small birds spend northern winters in the forests of Central and northern South America.
     The veery, which is a kind of thrush, and the waterthrush, which is a type of warbler, were right at home as they looked for invertebrate food along the stream in the woods with trees and shrubbery that were leafing out and turning green.  Both these beautiful birds moved over pebbles in the waterway, muddy shores and moss-covered logs in the water, each bird in its own unique, interesting way, in their quest for food.  The veery moved in short spurts of steps, then stopped to look about for invertebrates.  The waterthrush walked deliberately, its body dipping up and down with most every step. 
     Both these species, though unrelated, nest near water in woodlands in northern North America; farther north than my home in Lancaster County.  And because both species feed on the ground and in the shallows of streams and bogs in the woods, their upper parts are brown to blend into that niche for their protection against predation.  The waterthrush also has streaks on its throat, chest and abdomen to break up its shape as another form of camouflage.
     Probably both those birds will travel to forests farther north to raise young, after they rested a day or so, and regained their weight and strength after their flight north so they can finish their migration.  Many small birds, including these two species, migrate at night.
     Male veeries sing an eerie song, "veer, veer, veer,veer," that spirals downward.  We more often hear veeries than see them in their breeding territories.  Veeries nest on the ground or in a shrub close to it.  They run and stop, run and stop, robin style, (robins are in the thrush family) over the dead-leaf forest floor to catch invertebrates to feed their offspring and themselves.
     Male northern waterthrushes have loud, ringing songs which allow them to be heard above the musical tumbling of waterways in woodlands.  Waterthrushes nest on ledges in stream banks in the woods.  And they patrol little waterways and bogs to catch invertebrates to feed their youngsters and themselves.  Waterthrushes bob and dance as they walk along.  That movement is a kind of camouflage which mimics debris bouncing along the shores of running water.
     I'm almost sure the veery and waterthrush will continue a bit farther north to nest because where I saw them was too small a habitat too far south to interest them.  But they both were neat to see in their natural habitat however small, and however briefly.