Sections below are the following:
Transcript of Audio
Audio Notes and Acknowledgments
Images
Extra Information
Sources
Related Water Radio Episodes
For Virginia Teachers (Relevant SOLs, etc.)
Unless otherwise noted, all Web addresses mentioned were functional as of 4-10-20.
TRANSCRIPT OF AUDIO
From the Cumberland Gap to the Atlantic Ocean, this is Virginia Water Radio for the week of April 13, 2020.
MUSIC – ~14 sec – instrumental.
This week, that excerpt of “The Waterthrush,” by Andrew VanNorstrand, opens an episode about the two water-related songbirds in Virginia and North America called waterthrushes: the Louisiana Waterthrush and the Northern Waterthrush. Here’s a short medley of the songs of these two birds, from recordings by Lang Elliott in the Stokes Field Guide to Bird Songs. You’ll hear the medley twice, for about 15 seconds altogether; in each pairing, the Louisiana song comes first, followed by the Northern song.
SOUNDS - ~14 sec.
In Virginia, the Louisiana Waterthrush is a common summer resident statewide, while the Northern can be found in Virginia’s higher elevations in the summer; both may occur across the Commonwealth during spring and fall migration.
Despite the “thrush” in their name, waterthrushes are not part of the bird family of thrushes and allies—the family that includes, for example, the Wood Thrush, Robin, and Eastern Bluebird—although waterthrushes do resemble some thrushes because of their streaked or spotted breast. Rather, waterthrushes are classified in the family of New World Warblers, also called Wood Warblers.
In contrast, the “water” part of the waterthrush name fits the habitat of each species. The Louisiana is found near woodland streams, while the Northern prefers areas of standing water such as bogs, swamps, and other wetlands. Both feed on a variety of aquatic insects and other invertebrates as well as small fish and amphibians.
As is true with many warblers, waterthrushes may be heard more often than seen, and their songs have evoked appreciative human comments. Here’s how the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s “All About Birds” Web site describes the songs and habitats of these birds: “The Northern Waterthrush is often an unseen singer whose rich, sweet whistles lure listeners into its attractive habitats, the wooded swamps and bogs of northern North America”; and “The ringing song of the Louisiana Waterthrush, in cadence so like the rushing streams that are its home, is one of the first signs of spring in eastern North America.”
Thanks to Lang Elliott for permission to use the waterthrush sounds. Thanks also to Andrew VanNorstrand for permission to use this week’s music, and we close with about 15 more seconds of “The Waterthrush.”
MUSIC – ~15 sec.
SHIP’S BELL
Virginia Water Radio is produced by the Virginia Water Resources Research Center, part of Virginia Tech’s College of Natural Resources and Environment. For more Virginia water sounds, music, or information, visit us online at virginiawaterradio.org, or call the Water Center at (540) 231-5624. Thanks to Stewart Scales for his banjo version of Cripple Creek to open and close this show. In Blacksburg, I’m Alan Raflo, thanking you for listening, and wishing you health, wisdom, and good water.
AUDIO NOTES AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The waterthrush sounds were from the Stokes Field Guide to Bird Songs-Eastern Region CD set, by Lang Elliott with Donald and Lillian Stokes (Time Warner Audio Books, copyright 1997), used with permission of Lang Elliott. Lang Elliot’s work is available online at the “Music of Nature” Web site, http://www.musicofnature.org/.
“The Waterthrush” (part of the medley “The Waterthrush/Origami Reel”), from the 2019 album “That We Could Find a Way to Be,” is copyright by Andrew VanNorstrand, used with permission. More information about Andrew VanNorstrand is available online at https://www.andrewvannorstrand.com/.
Click here if you’d like to hear the full version (1 min./11 sec.) of the “Cripple Creek” arrangement/performance by Stewart Scales that opens and closes this episode. More information about Mr. Scales and the group New Standard, with which Mr. Scales plays, is available online at http://newstandardbluegrass.com.
IMAGES
Louisiana Waterthrush, photographed in Madison County, Virginia, March 20, 2020. Photo by Diane Lepkowski, made available on iNaturalist at https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/41471252 (as of 4-13-20) for use under Creative Commons license “Attribtution-NonCommercial 4.0.” Information about this Creative Commons license is available online at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/.
Northern Waterthrush, photographed in Fairfax County, Virginia, April 25, 2016. Photo by Ed Hass, made available on iNaturalist at https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/34355916 (as of 4-13-20) for use under Creative Commons license “Attribtution-NonCommercial 4.0.” Information about this Creative Commons license is available online at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/.
Map of the breeding-season and winter occurrence in Virginia of the Louisiana Waterthrush. Map accessed at the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries’ “Fish and Wildlife Information Service,” online at https://vafwis.dgif.virginia.gov/fwis/booklet.html?&bova=040332&Menu=_.Taxonomy&version=18148.
Map of the breeding-season and winter occurrence in Virginia of the Northern Waterthrush. Map accessed at the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries’ “Fish and Wildlife Information Service,” online at https://vafwis.dgif.virginia.gov/fwis/booklet.html?&bova=040331&Menu=_.Taxonomy&version=18148.
EXTRA INFORMATION ABOUT WATERTHRUSHES IN VIRGINIA
The Louisiana Waterthrush’s scientific name is Parkesia motacilla.
The Northern Waterthrush’s scientific name is Parkesia noveboracensis.
The following information on the Louisiana Waterthrush is from the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries’ “Fish and Wildlife Information Service,” online at https://vafwis.dgif.virginia.gov/fwis/booklet.html?&bova=040332&Menu=_.Taxonomy&version=18148.
Physical Description: “Length [measured from tip of bill to tip of tail] is 5.25 to 6.25 inches; …bill larger than Northern Waterthrush. Upperparts clove-brown; a clear white line over the eye; underparts white, the breast and sides streaked with hair-brown; throat unspotted.”
Reproduction: “Nest is built in a cavity in the bank of a stream or among upturned roots of a fallen tree. A clutch of 4 to 7 eggs is laid in May or June. …Usually only 1 brood is raised a year.”
Behavior: “Uses ground gleaning to catch insects. Territory size is usually 5 to 20 acres, depending on habitat and availibility of water.”
The following information on the Northern Waterthrush is from the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries’ “Fish and Wildlife Information Service,” online at https://vafwis.dgif.virginia.gov/fwis/booklet.html?&bova=040331&Menu=_.Taxonomy&version=18148.
Physical Description: Length [measured from tip of bill to tip of tail] is 5.25 to 6.25 inches…. Adults’ upperparts olive-brown; a buffy white stripe over the eye; underparts pale yellow, streaked and spotted…; wings and tail…without markings. Usually found on the ground near water, tilting body and tail up and down constantly.”
Reproduction: Nest is usually built in a cavity on the ground, among roots of [a] fallen tree, at [the] base of [a] moss-covered stump, under [a] mossy log, or in [a] mossy brook bank. Clutch of 4 or 5 eggs is laid in May or June. Incubation lasts 14 days and there is usually on one brood per year.”
Behavior: “Territory size is usually 1 to 3 acres. Uses ground gleaning to forage for insects. Also may take crustaceans and mollusks.”
SOURCES
Used for Audio
John James Audubon, “Louisiana Waterthrush,” in Birds of America, Plate 19, accessed from the Audubon Society, online at https://www.audubon.org/birds-of-america/louisiana-water-thrush.
Cornell University Lab of Ornithology, “All About Birds,” online at http://www.allaboutbirds.org. The Louisiana Waterthrush entry is online at https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Louisiana_Waterthrush. The Northern Waterthrush entry is online at https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Northern_Waterthrush. Information on the family of New World Warblers, or Parulidae, is online at https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/browse/taxonomy/Parulidae.
Cornell University Lab of Ornithology and American Ornithologists’ Union, “Birds of North America Online,” online at http://bna.birds.cornell.edu/bna (subscription required). The Louisiana Waterthrush entry is online at https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/species/louwat/cur/introduction. The Northern Waterthrush entry is online at https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/species/norwat/cur/introduction.
Encylcopedia Britannica, “Wood Warbler,” online at https://www.britannica.com/animal/wood-warbler; and “Thrush,” online at https://www.britannica.com/animal/thrush-bird.
Chandler S. Robbins et al., A Guide to Field Identification of Birds of North America, St. Martin’s Press, New York, 2001.
Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, “Fish and Wildlife Information Service,” online at http://vafwis.org/fwis/?Title=VaFWIS+Species+Information+By+Name&vUT=Visitor. The Louisiana Waterthrush entry is online at https://vafwis.dgif.virginia.gov/fwis/booklet.html?&bova=040332&Menu=_.Taxonomy&version=18148. The Northern Waterthrush entry is online at https://vafwis.dgif.virginia.gov/fwis/booklet.html?&bova=040331&Menu=_.Taxonomy&version=18148.
For More Information about Birds in Virginia and Elsewhere
Cornell University Lab of Ornithology, “Merlin Photo ID.” The application for mobile devices allows users to submit a bird photograph to get identification of the bird. Information is available online at http://merlin.allaboutbirds.org/.
Cornell University Lab of Ornithology and the Audubon Society, “eBird,” online at http://ebird.org/content/ebird/. Here you can find locations of species observations made by contributors, and you can sign up to contribute your own observations.
Stan Tekiela, Birds of Virginia Field Guide, Adventure Publications, Inc., Cambridge, Minn., 2002.
University of Michigan Museum of Zoology, “Animal Diversity Web,” online at https://animaldiversity.org/.
Virginia Society of Ornithology, online at http://www.virginiabirds.org/. The Society is a non-profit organization dedicated to the study, conservation, and enjoyment of birds in the Commonwealth.
Xeno-canto Foundation Web site, online at http://www.xeno-canto.org/. This site provides bird songs from around the world.
RELATED VIRGINIA WATER RADIO EPISODES
All Water Radio episodes are listed by category at the Index link above (http://www.virginiawaterradio.org/p/index.html). See particularly the “Birds” subject category.
Following is a link to a previous episode on warblers.
Episode 157, 4-15-13 – Warblers Announce Spring Bird Migration.
FOR VIRGINIA TEACHERS – RELATED STANDARDS OF LEARNING (SOLs) AND OTHER INFORMATION
Following are some Virginia Standards of Learning (SOLs) that may be supported by this episode’s script, sources of information, or other materials in the Show Notes.
2013 Music SOLs
SOLs at various grade levels that call for “examining the relationship of music to the other fine arts and other fields of knowledge.”
2010 Science SOLs
Grades K-6 Earth Resources Theme
4.9 – Virginia natural resources, including watersheds, water resources, and organisms.
Grades K-6 Life Processes Theme
1.5 – animals’ basic needs and distinguishing characteristics.
3.4 – behavioral and physiological adaptations.
Grades K-6 Living Systems Theme
2.5 – living things as part of a system, including habitats.
3.5 – food webs.
3.6 – ecosystems, communities, populations, shared resources.
6.7 – natural processes and human interactions that affect watershed systems; Virginia watersheds, water bodies, and wetlands; health and safety issues; and water monitoring.
Life Science Course
LS.4 – organisms’ classification based on features.
LS.6 – ecosystem interactions, including the water cycle, other cycles, and energy flow.
LS.8 – community and population interactions, including food webs, niches, symbiotic relationships.
Biology Course
BIO.8 – dynamic equilibria and interactions within populations, communities, and ecosystems; including nutrient cycling, succession, effects of natural events and human activities, and analysis of the flora, fauna, and microorganisms of Virginia ecosystems.
Virginia’s SOLs are available from the Virginia Department of Education, online at http://www.doe.virginia.gov/testing/.
Following are links to Virginia Water Radio episodes (various topics) designed especially for certain K-12 grade levels.
Episode 250, 1-26-15 – on boiling, for kindergarten through 3rd grade.
Episode 255, 3-2-15 – on density, for 5th and 6th grade.
Episode 282, 9-21-15 – on living vs. non-living, for kindergarten.
Episode 309, 3-28-16 – on temperature regulation in animals, for kindergarten through 12th grade.
Episode 333, 9-12-16 – on dissolved gases, especially dissolved oxygen in aquatic habitats, for 5th grade.
Episode 403, 1-15-18 – on freezing and ice, for kindergarten through 3rd grade.
Episode 404, 1-22-18 – on ice on ponds and lakes, for 4th through 8th grade.
Episode 406, 2-5-18 – on ice on rivers, for middle school.
Episode 407, 2-12-18 – on snow chemistry and physics, for high school.
Episode 483, 7-29-19 – on buoyancy and drag, for middle school and high school.
