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Thrushes
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Rusty crown, nape and upper back
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White eye ring and streaked cheeks
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White underparts with black spots throughout
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Brown upperparts
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Pink legs
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Sexes similar
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Juvenile has pale spots on upperparts
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Often forages on forest floor
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Distinctive beautiful song
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More than three hundred species of thrushes live worldwide. North
America has 15 species, seven of which breed in the Northeast; an
eighth, the gray-cheeked thrush, passes through our region during
migration. Thrushes have thin bills and strong legs. They often forage
on the ground, searching in leaf litter and on lawns for insects and
other invertebrates such as spiders, earthworms and snails; they eat
berries in late summer, in fall, and (if they do not migrate south)
in winter. Juveniles' spotted breasts help camouflage them. Hawks,
falcons, owls, foxes, mink and house cats prey on thrushes. Blue jays,
grackles, crows, raccoons, weasels, squirrels, chipmunks and snakes
eat eggs and nestlings. Many thrushes sing complex mellifluous songs
that delight human listeners. Most thrushes build open cup-shaped
nests secured to branches of low trees and shrubs. Some robins nest
on building ledges and other flat surfaces; bluebirds choose tree
cavities or artificial nesting boxes; and hermit thrushes and veeries
often nest on the ground. The females do most of the actual nest construction.
The typical clutch is four or five eggs; all of the species breeding
in the Northeast lay pale blue or blue-green eggs. Females do most
or all of the incubating, and both parents feed the young. |
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| Bird rescue & bird adoption;
parrot refuge/rescue & placement for unwanted birds. |
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| Check out our list of local
birds broken down by your state and different types of
species. |
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| Migrating birds stay on track
because of chemical reactions in their bodies that are
influenced by the Earth's magnetic field... |
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Part
I
November
19, 2004