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Wood Thrush
Hylocechla mustelina
© 2004 by Louise Brown
In general the Thrushes are almost all beautiful singers. A little smaller than the Robin, the Wood Thrush is brown on top that becomes redder towards the tail, with a pale breast with dark round spots. Although it is more likely than some other thrushes to live near human abodes, it is shy and keeps to the dense undergrowth in the woods, foraging for insects- grasshoppers, beetles, worms, caterpillars, etc, and wild berries. Its presence is usually detected by its incredible song, which rings from the peaceful woods and hangs in the air. The song is impossible to describe, but has been compared to the flute. Soft rising and descending notes bespeak mysteries from the deep forest. It is a treat to actually see one- although in the summer it is easy to hear them in the woods singing their beautiful song- for the most part they stay deep in the undergrowth. One July, up in the mountains in Spooky Holler (near Marion, NC) I was treated to Wood Thrush in stereo- they were competing from opposite sides of the clearing, for hours and hours.
The Wood Thrush breeds in the forests of North America, from the southeastern Dakotas to southern Quebec, to southeastern Texas and northern Florida; and spends the winters from South Texas to Panama.
The Wood Thrush is a case-in-point of a species greatly jeopardized by destruction of its natural environment. It needs the deep woods to feel secure. Both the winter and summer habitats have greatly declined, and breeding grounds are being destroyed or fragmented by habitat loss across the US, as well as loss of winter habitats in Central America. Not only that, but the places in which the Wood Thrush would normally stop off during migration are also declining.
In Greensboro I have heard and seen Wood Thrushes in the Peabody Park of UNCG campus (which in itself is a declining habitat), in the StarmountForest, and in the deep woods north of town.
To learn more about the birds of GuilfordCounty, please feel free to visit the web page of the Piedmont Bird Club.
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