Wood thrush

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Wood thrush
Song
Song

Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Turdidae
Genus: Hylocichla
Baird, 1864
Species:
H. mustelina
Binomial name
Hylocichla mustelina
(Gmelin, JF, 1789)
  Breeding
  Migration
  Nonbreeding
Synonyms[2]
  • Turdus mustelinus Gmelin, 1789
  • Merula mustelina (Gmelin, 1789)
  • Catharus mustelinus (Gmelin, 1789)

The wood thrush (Hylocichla mustelina) is a North American

District of Columbia.[3]

The wood thrush is a medium-sized

song
of the male is often cited as being the most beautiful in North America.

The wood thrush is an

monogamous, and its breeding season begins in the spring; about 50% of all mated pairs are able to raise two broods, ranging in size from two to four chicks.[4]

Taxonomy

The wood thrush was

monotypic: no subspecies are recognised.[9] The generic name is a translation of its common name, derived from the Greek words hyle/ύλη "woodland" and cichle/κιχλη "thrush" or "fieldfare".[10] The specific name comes from the Latin mustela "weasel".[11]

This thrush is closely related to the other typical American thrushes of the genus

Turdus thrushes, such as the American robin
. "Wood thrush" is the official name given to this species by the International Ornithologists' Union (IOC).[9]

Description

The adult wood thrush is 18 to 21.5 cm (7.1 to 8.5 in) long, with a wingspan of 30 to 40 cm (12 to 16 in) and a body mass of 48 to 72 g (1.7 to 2.5 oz).[15] Among standard measurements, the wing chord is 9.6 to 11.6 cm (3.8 to 4.6 in), the bill is 1.6 to 2 cm (0.63 to 0.79 in) and the tarsus is 2.8 to 3.3 cm (1.1 to 1.3 in). It is distinctly larger than the Catharus thrushes with which the species is often sympatric but slightly smaller than the common American robin.[13] The longest known lifespan for a wood thrush in the wild is 8 years, 11 months.[16] The crown, nape, and upper back are cinnamon-brown, while the back wings, and tail are a slightly duller brown. The breast and belly are white with large dark brown spots on the breast, sides, and flanks. It has white eye rings and pink legs.[17] Other brownish thrushes have finer spotting on the breast.[18] The juvenile looks similar to adults, but has additional spots on the back, neck, and wing coverts. The male and female are similar in size and plumage.

Vocalization

The wood thrush has been reported to have one of the most beautiful songs of North American birds.[18] American naturalist Henry David Thoreau wrote:

Whenever a man hears it he is young, and Nature is in her spring; wherever he hears it, it is a new world and a free country, and the gates of Heaven are not shut against him.

While the female is not known to sing, the male has a unique song that has three parts. The first subsong component is often inaudible unless the listener is close, and consists of two to six short, low-pitched notes such as bup, bup, bup. The middle part is a loud phrase often written ee-oh-lay, and the third part is a ventriloquial, trill-like phrase of non-harmonic pairs of notes given rapidly and simultaneously.

The male is able to sing two notes at once, which gives its song an ethereal, flute-like quality.[19] Each individual bird has its own repertoire based on combinations of variations of the three parts. Songs are often repeated in order. The bup, bup, bup phrase is also sometimes used as a call, which is louder and at a greater frequency when the bird is agitated.[4] The wood thrush also use a tut, tut to signal agitation.[16] The nocturnal flight call is an emphatic buzzing heeh.[15]

Distribution and habitat

The wood thrush's breeding range extends from

Gulf Coast during the first week of April. Fall migration usually begins in mid-August and continues through mid-September. Migration takes place at night,[16] allowing them to find their direction from the stars and orient themselves by detecting the Earth's magnetic field.[20]

The wood thrush prefers

nest parasitism.[16] The wood thrush's breeding range has expanded northward, displacing the veery and hermit thrush
in some locations. In recent times, as a result of fragmentation of forests, it has been increasingly exposed to
nest parasitism by brown-headed cowbirds, as well as loss of habitat
in the winter range.

Conservation status

The wood thrush has become a symbol of the decline of Neotropical songbirds of eastern North America, having declined by approximately 50% since 1966.

Least Concern.[1]

Vagrancy

The wood thrush has been recorded twice as a

vagrant in Europe, in Iceland at Kvísker in Öræfi East Skaftafellssýsla by Björnsson Hálfdán on 23 October 1967 and on Wingletang Down, St Agnes, Isles of Scilly, England on 7 October 1987.[22][23]

Behavior

A wood thrush singing in Central Park, New York City

The wood thrush is primarily solitary, but occasionally forms mixed-species flocks in the winter. Its breeding territory ranges from 800 to 8,000 m2 (960 to 9,570 sq yd) in size, and are used for nesting, gathering nest materials, and foraging.[16] Some wood thrushes also defend a feeding territory in the winter. Territorial interactions are usually settled without physical contact, but in high-intensity encounters or nest defense, physical interactions with the feet or bill have been observed. Defense behaviors in response to nest predators include wing flicks, tail flicks, and raising the crest, sometimes escalating to dives and strikes.[16]

This species has also been observed displaying a behavior known as "anting." Anting occurs when a bird picks up a single ant or group of ants and rubs them on its feathers. The purpose of this behavior is unknown, but it is thought that the birds may be able to acquire defensive secretions from the ants possibly used for some medicinal purposes, or that it simply supplements the birds' own preen oil.[15]

Diet

Soil invertebrates and larvae make up most of the wood thrush's omnivorous diet, but it will also eat fruits in the late summer, fall, and late winter. It occasionally feeds on arboreal insects, snails, and small salamanders. The young are fed insects and some fruit.[15] After breeding and before migration, the wood thrush will switch from insects to fruits with high lipid levels. In the summer, low fruit consumption and lipid reserves require the bird to feed on insects continuously in order to meet its metabolic needs.[16]

The wood thrush forages mainly on the forest floor, flipping leaves over with its bills to reveal insects. It can be observed hopping around in leaf litter and on semi-bare ground under the forest canopy. Fruits are swallowed whole.[16]

Predation

Eggs and chicks are vulnerable to

black rat snakes, brown-headed cowbirds, common grackles, southern flying squirrels, gray squirrels, least weasels, white-footed mice, domestic cats, great horned owls, and sharp-shinned hawks. Adults are primarily taken by hawks and owls.[16]

Reproduction

Nesting in Pennsylvania, USA

Wood thrushes are monogamous. Breeding pairs form in mid-April to early-May, and usually last throughout the breeding season. Most thrushes find a new mate each year, and mate guarding and extra-pair copulations have not been observed in this species.[16]

Some male wood thrushes arrive at the breeding grounds several days before the earliest females while other males arrive at the same time as the females, establishing territories ranging in size from 0.08 to 0.8 hectares (one-fifth of an acre to two acres).[4] The female typically leads silent circular flights 1–1.8 m (3.3–5.9 ft) from the ground, with the male chasing. Six or more flights generally take place in succession. The pairs will perch together and feed each other in between flights.[15] The male begins to sing at dawn and dusk a few days after arriving at breeding grounds. Early in the breeding season, the male sings from high perches in the tallest trees, but as the season progresses, it sings somewhat shorter and less elaborate songs from lower perches. Each day's singing begins and is most intense just before sunrise. The male may sing throughout the day but especially at dusk. The song season is usually over by the end of July.[16]

Typically, the female chooses the nest site and builds the nest. However, there has been some indication that the male is able to influence the selection of the nest site by perching nearby and singing. Usually, though, the female chooses whether or not to accept or reject the nest site suggested by the male.

altricial at hatching, mostly naked with closed eyes.[26] The female broods the chicks during the first four days after hatching. Both parents feed the nestlings and remove fecal sacs from the nest. The chicks fledge
12–15 days after hatching, but the parents continue to feed them until they become independent and leave the parents' territory at 21–31 days old.

The young wood thrush is able to begin breeding the next summer. Most females lay their first eggs in mid-May, but older females may begin laying sooner. Pairs usually attempt to rear a second brood no later than late July, with the last of the young fledging around mid-August.[16] About half of all wood thrush pairs successfully raise two broods.[4]

References

  1. ^
    doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-3.RLTS.T22708670A154163742.en
    .
  2. ^ "Wood Thrush Hylocichla mustelina (Gmelin, JF 1789)". Avibase. Denis Lepage. Retrieved 23 September 2022.
  3. ^ "50 States". Retrieved 17 June 2007.
  4. ^ a b c d Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology. "Wood Thrush". Archived from the original on 9 June 2007. Retrieved 17 June 2007.
  5. ^ Gmelin, Johann Friedrich (1789). Systema naturae per regna tria naturae : secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis (in Latin). Vol. 1, Part 2 (13th ed.). Lipsiae [Leipzig]: Georg. Emanuel. Beer. p. 817.
  6. ^ Mayr, Ernst; Paynter, Raymond A. Jr, eds. (1964). Check-List of Birds of the World. Vol. 10. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. p. 175.
  7. ^ Pennant, Thomas (1785). Arctic Zoology. Vol. 2. London: Printed by Henry Hughs. p. 337, No. 198.
  8. ^ Baird, Spencer F. (1864–1872). Review of American Birds in the Museum of the Smithsonian Institution. Part 1. Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections 181. Washington: Smithsonian Institution. p. 12.
  9. ^
    Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (July 2023). "Thrushes"
    . IOC World Bird List Version 13.2. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 15 August 2023.
  10. ISBN 0-19-910207-4
    .
  11. ISBN 0-304-52257-0
    .
  12. JSTOR 4087513
    .
  13. ^
    ISBN 978-0-7136-3940-7
    .
  14. S2CID 85866043
    .
  15. ^ a b c d e f Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology All About Birds. "Wood Thrush". Retrieved 17 June 2007.
  16. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m University of Michigan Museum of Zoology. "Wood Thrush". Retrieved 17 June 2007.
  17. ISBN 0-8014-9600-4
    .
  18. ^
    ISBN 0-394-41405-5
    .
  19. ISBN 978-0-15-101247-3
    .
  20. ^ Dan Lazar. "The Mysteries of Migration – Transmutation or Long-Distance Travelers?". Archived from the original on 15 March 2007. Retrieved 26 June 2007.
  21. ^ Miyoko Chu; Stefan Hames. "Wood Thrush Declines Linked to Acid Rain". Retrieved 17 June 2007.
  22. Twitching
    . 1 (10): 299–300.
  23. ^ Paul Dukes (1995). "Wood Thrush in Scilly: new to Britain and Ireland". British Birds. 88 (3): 133–135.
  24. The Wilson Bulletin
    . 70 (1): 70–89. Retrieved 17 May 2007.
  25. ^ D. A. Sibley. "Wood Thrush". Archived from the original on 27 September 2006. Retrieved 17 May 2007.
  26. ^ Paul R. Ehrlich; David S. Dobkin & Darryl Wheye. "Precocial and Atricial". Retrieved 6 May 2007.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Wood thrush.
Wikispecies has information related to Hylocichla mustelina.
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