Swainson's Thrush
Catharus ustulatus
Aves › Passeriformes › Turdidae › Catharus
Conservation status: least_concern
Swainson's Thrush is a medium-sized songbird with warm brown upperparts, a spotted breast, and a distinctive buffy eye-ring that gives it a subtle, elegant appearance. Known for its flute-like, ascending song that seems to spiral upward, it migrates between western North American forests in summer and Central and South American wintering grounds.
How To Identify
The Swainson's Thrush is a medium-sized thrush characterized by a generally muted grey upper body. It often displays yellowish or buff feathering on its breast and wings, complemented by distinct dark streaking across its flanks.
Habitat
It breeds in moist coniferous and mixed forests across northern and western North America, and winters in humid lowland forests from Venezuela to Bolivia.
Behaviour
This species is a nocturnal migrant that feeds primarily on insects and berries, often foraging on the ground or in low vegetation with a characteristic upright posture and frequent tail flicking.
Native Range
Swainson's thrush is native to coniferous woods with dense undergrowth across Canada, Alaska, and the northern United States, and also to deciduous wooded areas on the Pacific coast of North America.
Did You Know?
Swainson's Thrushes navigate their remarkable 9,000+ mile migration between North American breeding grounds and South American wintering grounds using the Earth's magnetic field, and they accomplish this feat almost entirely under cover of darkness. Their haunting, flute-like song spirals upward in pitch, making it one of the most enchanting sounds of North American forests.
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