Louisiana Waterthrushes are not thrushes, but small ground-dwelling warblers found close to water. These birds are mostly dark brown with a white belly, covered in brown streaking. The streaks are loose and do not condense in the breast feathers. They also have a white supercilium (eyebrow stripe), and two dark malar stripes on the throat. Their legs are pink and their bill is bicolored (gray on top, pink-gray on bottom). They also have an intensely buff colored rump, and sometimes sides.

Northern Waterthrushes are very similar to Louisiana Waterthrushes, but notice the denser streaking at the breast and less contrast between the head shade of white and the body shade of white. Their underside and eyebrow white is much more buff colored than that of a Luisiana. They also have a straight eyebrow line as opposed to one that curves up slightly at the end. They prefer moving water.

Worm-eating Warblers are much more buffy than Louisiana Waterthrushes and possess no streaking besides two black stripes on each side of the head. They also do not normally walk on the ground, rather perch in trees and sing their song.