Distribution Breeding: Pacific Northwest, from Alaska to northern Yukon, British Columbia, western MacKenzie, and southwestern Alberta, south to northwestern Montana, northern Idaho, northwestern Washington, western Oregon, and the northwestern corner of California.

Winter: From southern British Columbia to northern Baja. Wanderers are seen as far east as New England, with records from virtually every state in the U.S.

Breeding habitat

Inhabits mostly coniferous forests, such as redwoods, Douglas fir, and spruce, but also inhabits some deciduous forests, from coastal to subalpine, usually with a dense understory. Favors thick stands of firs, wet with moisture, preferably near mountain lakes. This thrush loves shady, cool, and damp woodland areas.

Conservation status

This thrush is of moderate conservation importance, primarily because of its association with mature coniferous forests of the Pacific Northwest, and because of its relatively small total range. Populations appear to be stable at present, although they fluctuate greatly in many areas. Understanding this species’ relationship with forest fragmentation in various silvicultural practices will be important for conserving future populations.

Description

Male: The upperparts are slate-gray, with an orange eyebrow line and wing bars. Underparts are orange, with a black breast band. The outer tail feathers have white tips.

Female: Similar in pattern to the adult male, but much paler and duller. Nape and back are brownish-olive with a breast band similar or paler in color.

Juvenile: Throat and breast are orange; feathers tipped with olive, giving a scaly appearance. The breast band is not visible.

Vocalizations

Songs: Each song phrase is a single note: a long, vibrating, metallic whistle, with a long pause between the notes. Each note is delivered in a slightly different key and pitch, with no particular order to these changes. A bird may sing these notes in continuous succession for several minutes. During May and June this bird is heard at its best; its song carries long distances through the forest.

Calls: Low chook (robin-like note) and a variety of ringing whistles similar to the notes in the bird’s song. The bird will often call in a soft, faint tone while feeding on the ground.

Foraging strategy

Commonly forages on the ground under damp and thickly matted leaves. Scratches the dead leaves aside with both feet at once like a White-throated Sparrow, seizing some litter in its beak and scattering leaves in various directions. Generally keeps under shady retreats among mosses and rocks. Occasionally will glean or pick invertebrates or fruit from vegetation. Young are fed an animal diet almost exclusively.

Diet

Eats beetles, ants, bees, wasps, flies, caterpillars, grasshoppers, crickets, some spiders, myriapods, snails, sowbugs, and earthworms. In the early fall feeds mostly on acorns, weed seeds, snowberries, juniper berries, blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, buckthorn, poison oak, and pepperberries.

Behavior and displays

• Sings from high, concealed perches; often flushed from the ground into a low tree.

• On its breeding ground it is generally a shy bird, fading away into the dense understory at any sign of an intruder.

• When performing an agonistic display (a behavior used to threaten another bird), the bird extends its head forward with its body held in a horizontal crouch and with its plumage sleeked. At highest intensity the tail is lifted and the wings are spread and rotated forward.

Courtship

• No information available.

Nesting

Nest site: Usually in a small conifer, but occasionally built in a deciduous tree; small fir, spruce hemlock, vine maple, or willow. The nest is generally built against the trunk, supported by small branches and hidden in the foliage.

Height: 6–20 feet (2–6 meters) above the ground.

Nest: The nest is a bulky cup of mud, dead leaves, dried twigs, inner bark strips, weed and grass stems, and soft moss. It is lined with fine dry grasses. The female is thought to build the nest by herself.

Eggs: Generally 3–4, but may range from 2–5. Smooth and glossy, pale blue, sparingly dotted with brown. Somewhat paler than a robin’s egg.

Incubation period: Incubation is done by the female alone, for about 14 days. The male is always present in the vicinity and may possibly feed the female on the nest.

Nestling period: The nestlings are altricial (born naked or with a small amount of down, eyes closed, unable to move or feed themselves). The female broods the nestlings for a few days after they hatch. The actual length of the brooding period is not known.

Fledgling period: Both the female and male help feed the young until they are ready to feed themselves completely.

Broods: One brood per season, possibly two.

Cowbird Parasitism: No information. Possible cowbird host.

Notes

• Sometimes there are no notes.

• Sometimes there are several.