The Louisiana Waterthrush is a stream bank-nesting songbird that consumes benthic macroinvertebrates along forested streams. Waterthrushes are of particular interest because they are an infrequently studied riparian obligate species, and riparian habitats are threatened ecosystems in the fast-developing Southern Piedmont.

We studied waterthrush populations in 13 forested headwater drainages of the Georgia Piedmont in the springs of 2002–2004. Field assistants monitored 175 active waterthrush nests, of which 111 fledged between 1 and 5 young.

During a drought in 2002, steep drainages with gravel-dominated riffles had higher juvenile waterthrush densities than drainages with sand–dominated riffles. In 2003, rainfall was at all–time record highs, and rainfall was at moderate levels in 2004. During these wetter years, some pairs raised two broods successfully. Many ornithologists have assumed that waterthrushes were single-brooded. Despite the increase in rainfall, the drivers of reproduction were unclear in 2003 and 2004.

Next, we will investigate the effects of timber harvest, urbanization, and cattle grazing on vital rates of waterthrushes. From our results, we will provide management recommendations for land managers in the Georgia Piedmont to protect riparian bird populations and the associated assemblage of stream-side biota.

—Brady Mattsson, Ph.D. student. Major Professor: Dr. Robert J. Coooper.

To learn more about this and related projects visit the Cooper Lab research page.