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Hermit Thrush

Status Common in summer, rare in winter. Breeds. This thrush is an early spring migrant, usually first appearing in April (average 15 April, earliest 28 March). Large numbers are present by late April or early May, and it is found throughout the province in mixed woodlands during summer. Migratory peaks are not generally evident again until mid-September and can occur through October. Latest sightings have been occasional on Christmas Bird Counts throughout the province, and there are at least eight January and February records, the latest at East Green Harbour, Shelburne County, on 26 February 1983 (several observers).

Description Length: 16.5-19 cm. Adults: Upperparts, except tail, olive-brown; tail cinnamon-brown; breast buffy white, finely spotted with black; belly and undertail coverts white; flanks buff.

Breeding Nest: On the ground; composed of coarse grass, bracken fronds (Pteridium) and lichens, with a lining of dry pine needles or deer hair. It is sometimes concealed under fronds of dead bracken or under tiny spruce seedlings and usually found in open woods or on barrens. Eggs: 3-4, usually 3; greenish blue, of a slightly lighter shade than robin eggs. Laying begins about mid-May. Of 23 nests examined, the earliest was on 30 May 1923 at Albany, Annapolis County, and contained three young a few days old.

The latest was found on 3 August 1930 near Kingston, Kings County, and contained three half-incubated eggs. Laying was complete in all of the nests examined; in 15 of these nests, three eggs were laid, and in the other 8 there were four eggs.

Range Breeds from Alaska, the southern Yukon, the southern Mackenzie Valley, central Quebec, and Newfoundland, south to the northeastern United States, northern Michigan, central Saskatchewan and, in the western mountains, to New Mexico and California. Winters south to Guatemala.

Remarks The song of the Hermit Thrush is generally considered to be the finest heard in our northern woodlands. The Gray Catbird and the Winter Wren excel in their variation of melodious notes and the Ruby-crowned Kinglet has no rival for volume in relation to size, but none can match the sweetness and aesthetic appeal of this bird's pure, silvery, fluted notes. Its song is perhaps most inspiring when twilight's stillness encompasses the woods in springtime, but it must be heard at fairly close range to appreciate all of the minor notes. In some rural districts, where it is known solely as the bird that sings so sweetly at twilight, it is called the "nightingale."

In life it may be difficult to distinguish our three most common thrushes--the Hermit Thrush, Swainson's Thrush and the Veery. However, the back of the Hermit Thrush is olive-brown, and its tail is cinnamon-brown, both the back and the tail of Swainson's Thrush are plain gray-brown, and the back and tail of the Veery are both a uniform cinnamon-brown.