Hermit Thrush

Hermit Thrush

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Hermit Thrush nest

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1. Description
2. Sound
3. Conservation Status
4. Other Names
5. Cool Facts
6. Full detailed species account

The Hermit Thrush is the only member of its genus to spend the winter in North America. It changes its diet from eating nearly entirely insects in summer to one of equal parts insects and fruit in winter.

Description

• Medium-sized thrush.
• Brown back, reddish tail.
• Black spots on chest.
• Thin white eyering.
• Cocks tail up and flicks wings frequently; lifts tail up quickly, lowers it slowly.

• Size: 14-18 cm (6-7 in)
• Wingspan: 25-29 cm (10-11 in)
• Weight: 23-37 g (0.81-1.31 ounces)

Sex Differences

Sexes alike

Sound

Song a melodious, fluty warble, mostly on one pitch, starting with a clear whistled note.

Conservation Status

Populations increasing slightly continentwide.

Other Names

Grive solitaire (French)
Zorzalito colirrufo (Spanish)

Cool Facts

• In the Appalachian Mountains the Hermit Thrush is displaced at lower elevations by the Veery and at higher elevations by Swainson's Thrush, leaving the middle altitudes for the Hermit Thrush.

• East of the Rocky Mountains the Hermit Thrush usually nests on the ground. In the West, it is more likely to nest in trees.

Sources used to construct this page:

Jones, P. W., and T. M. Donovan. 1996. Hermit Thrush (Catharus guttatus). In The Birds of North America, No. 261 (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, PA, and The American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C.