Thrushes

Most of our New England thrushes are fairly secretive in their behavior and we often have to identify and locate them by sound. They all have distinctive, melodic songs so it is easy to pick them out in the forest. This is a Hermit Thrush that happened to come out onto the trail to look for some food, giving me an unusually good look.

The Wood Thrush has a flute like song and can often be found perching instead of on the ground. They are more reddish brown that the Hermit Thrush and have much bolder spots. They also have a grey streaked cheek patch.

I haven’t spotted one yet this spring, but another fairly common thrush during migration is Swainson’s Thrush. It’s spots are not as bold as those on the Wood Thrush and it has a buffy wash and eye ring. We see them briefly in the spring as they head further north to breed.

One member of the thrush family that is very common and very visible is the American Robin. It is not at all secretive like its cousins and is commonly seen in the summer on lawns and other open areas. An adult doesn’t look like a thrush but it has the melodic song of a thrush. And juveniles sport chest spots that show their “thrush-ness”. This photo from a few years ago illustrates the juvenile look.

The American Robin was named by early European settlers for whom the red-orange breast was a reminder of the unrelated European Robin that they knew from home. However, the European Robin is a flycatcher, not a thrush.