Wood Thrush Identification Guide

Wood Thrush

Key facts

Scientific name: Hylocichla mustelina
UK status: Rare vagrant (accidental)
Global conservation status: Least concern
Length: 19 cm
Wingspan: 32 cm
Weight: 47 g

Description

The wood thrush is a medium-sized, pot-bellied thrush with a short tail, large head, and upright posture. It has bright, reddish-brown upperparts with a rustier nape, and duller tail, and white underparts with large, rounded black spots. The underwing is dark with a white central band.

On the head, the crown is cinnamon-coloured, and the cheek is white with dark flecks, and there is a bold, pale eyering. The straight bill is black with a pale pink base on the lower mandible, and the legs and feet are pink. Males and females are similar.

It has a clear, musical, fluty song, often heard singing from the tops of high trees and dawn and dusk, and a machine-gun like alarm call.

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Diet

Wood thrushes eat insects, spiders, snails, and fruit, foraging mostly on the forest floor turning over leaves to search for prey.

Listen

Ethan H Freeman/xeno-canto

Range and habitat

During breeding season, wood thrushes are found across central and eastern North America in deciduous and mixed forests with moist soil and plenty of leaf litter, as well as well-planted parks and gardens. It migrates for the winter to lowland, tropical forests in Central America.

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