Wood Thrush

OTHER NAMES- Song Thrush, Wood Robin, Bell Bird, Swamp Robin

Birders observe the Wood Thrush in North America from Ontario Province to Maine and portions of the midwest- In winter the Wood Thrush flies south to Florida, Texas, Mexico, South America, Costa Rica, Bahamas, Cuba, Jamaica, Puerto Rico.

While outside this summer you may notice an adult bird about 7 1/2 inches in length. This bird, the Wood Thrush displays brown plumage on its upper parts its lower parts are white with spots. Its wings are long and pointed and its tail is about 3/4 length of their wings. The Wood Thrush has long and slender legs. Its brownish, black beak is about 1/2 the length of its head, slender and curved downward at the tip. You'll also note the crown, colored a tawny brown to cinnamon and a tail of grayish olive. Note the white eye ring and the side of its head is a dusky brown streaked with white. The Wood Thrush has white cheeks with flecks of cinnamon, a buff chest and its stomach is white.

One seductive aspect of the female Wood Thrush is the fact she may have another male bird to seek out for copulation especially if a neighboring male is of higher social rank or somehow more fit than her own mate. In some species the females choose nest sites close to the territories of other males to facilitate these extra pair copulations. An exra marital affair!

They usually place the nest in the crotch of a tree or limb from six to twelve feet off the ground in the thickest part of the tree. They build the outside of the nest of leaves, grass and small twigs and cement it with mud. When the mud dries it becomes a very firm nest. Sometimes bits of paper or cloth are added as a decoration and they line the inside with fine roots and grasses.

The Wood Thrush prefers to nest around Buck thorn shrubs. This type of shrub provides a dense shrub layer of limbs and leaves. Buck thorns also grow in damp areas that the Wood Thrushes like. Therefore, while Buck thorn is a favored for nesting, other native species of shrubs similar to the Buck thorn will draw the birds to nest too. The farther away from the edge of the forest the more the thrushes build nests. Often you will find thrush nests in the lower branches of a dogwood tree.

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