Gray-cheeked Thrush

Gray-cheeked Thrush

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1. Cool Facts
2. Description
3. Similar Species
4. Sound
5. Range
6. Habitat
7. Food
8. Reproduction
9. Conservation Status
10. Other Names

Of all the American spotted thrushes, the Gray-cheeked has the most northern breeding range. Consequently this shy skulker of the underbrush is not well known and is rather infrequently seen.

Cool Facts

• Gray-cheeked and Bicknell's thrushes were only recently recognized as separate species. Most of the information published in the last century on "Gray-cheeked Thrush" concerned the Bicknell's Thrush instead of the Gray-cheeked. Although Gray-cheeked Thrush has a much larger range across North America, the Bicknell's Thrush's small range is closer to centers of human population, and therefore is the more accessible species.

Description

• Size: 16-17 cm (6-7 in)
• Weight: 26-30 g (0.92-1.06 ounces)

• Medium-sized thrush.
• Upperparts and tail brownish gray.
• Plain gray face with some light streaks but no eyering.

• Dark lines on side of throat blend into dark triangular spots on throat and breast.
• Underparts mostly white, buffy on chest.
• Legs pink.
• Eye dark.
• Bill with pale base to lower mandible and dark tip.

Sex Differences

Sexes alike.

Immature

Like adult.

Similar Species

• Bicknell's Thrush very similar and probably not separable in the field.
• Swainson's Thrush has similar markings and coloring, but face is buffy and it has a distinct buffy eyering.
• Veery has similar plain face, but it has only weak spotting and is usually more reddish.
• Hermit Thrush has distinct rufous on tail and wings and an eyering.

Sound

Complex song of burry flute-like notes, usually ending on a downslur. Nocturnal flight note a one-or two-note "whe-eer" dropping in pitch.

Range

Range Map

© 2003 Cornell Lab of Ornithology

About the map

Summer Range

Breeds throughout Alaska southward to very northwestern British Columbia eastward to Newfoundland. Also in northeastern Siberia.

Winter Range

Winters in South America east of the Andes.

Habitat

• Breeds in areas with closed canopy of small shrubs and a dense understory, up to the edge of the tundra.
• Winters in the understory of tropical forests.
• On migration it uses wooded sites with a thick understory.

Food

Insects and other arthropods, fruit.

Reproduction

Nest Type

Open cup of twigs and stems lined with moss and grass. Nest placed in crotches of branches of shrubs, or on ground.

Egg Description

Light greenish blue marked with brown blotches around larger end.

Clutch Size

Condition at Hatching

Helpless.

Conservation Status

Breeding areas are remote. The species is not listed as threatened.

Other Names

Grive à joues grises (French)
Zorzal cara gris (Spanish)

Sources used to construct this page:

Lowther, P., C. C. Rimmer, B. Kessel, S. L. Johnson, and W. G. Ellison. 2001. Gray-cheeked Thrush (Catharus minimus). In The Birds of North America, No. 591 (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Birds of North America, Inc., Philadelphia, PA.