Hermit Thrush
In addition to field marks, distinctive behavior may aid in the identification of similar species. Two typical behavioral traits that may help distinguish Hermit Thrushes from the other brown-backed woodland thrushes are tail- and wing-flicking. Hermit Thrushes have the habit of quickly raising and then slowly lowering their tails upon landing; this behavior is often accompanied by a tchup call. Wing-flicking or "twinkling" is the Hermit Thrush's habit of repeatedly and very rapidly extending its wings out from the body and immediately returning them to rest.

The Hermit Thrush is the only one of the brown-backed thrushes that winters in North America. The Veery (Catharus fuscescens), Gray-cheeked Thrush (C. minimus), Bicknell's Thrush (C. bicknelli), Swainson's Thrush (C. ustulatus), and Wood Thrush (Hylocichla mustelina) all migrate to spend the winter in Central or South America. Although seemingly hardier than these other thrushes and occasionally recorded in winter well north of its normal range, Hermit Thrushes may still succumb to sudden cold snaps and to heavy snowfall that covers their food sources. These thrushes are common in winter only where the average January temperature is above 30 degrees Fahrenheit and where there is a supply of open water. Hermit Thrushes winter most abundantly in the river valleys of the southeastern United States and in the Coast Range of the Pacific states. In the mountains of the West, they retreat from the higher altitudes in winter and similarly avoid the higher Appalachian peaks in their southeastern winter range.
Hermit Thrush Range Map

In the fall they are typically the last thrush to migrate, and in spring they are the first to return to the breeding range. Males arrive before females and establish territories. When the females arrive, they are treated at first as intruders by males but are compelled to stay because of the male's singing. The ethereal flute-like song of the Hermit Thrush, heard rarely in winter and not at all during migration, is sung from the tops of trees or standing dead snags by males beginning as much as an hour before sunrise, and ending 30 or 40 minutes after sunset.

The song begins with a clear whistled note followed by three or more descending phrases that are usually pitched higher than the initial note. This pattern is repeated after a pause, but at a different pitch. The effect is of a theme with variations in different keys and has invited comparisons to human musical compositions. Phonetically, it may be rendered as oh- holy, holy, holy; ah- purity, purity, purity; eeh- sweetly, sweetly, sweetly. The final notes of each repetition are usually pitched higher and weaker, producing an echo-like effect. Hermit Thrushes also give a blackbirdlike call note that may be repeated two or three times as tchup, chup, chup and a nasal towheelike upslurred weeeh.

Compared to other Catharus thrushes, the Hermit Thrush uses a broad array of forest and edge habitats. It is a bird of the forest interior, but it is most often found in the edge habitats that occur there, such as the margins of ponds or bogs, small clearings created by disturbances, or utility cuts and roads. Like the Wood Thrush or American Robin, it forages on the forest floor but probes less for soil invertebrates than either of the other two. More so than other thrushes, it will sally into the air after flying insects. During the breeding season, more than 90 percent of its food is made up of insects, spiders, and other animals. Fruits and berries are more important in winter, when such vegetable food makes up approximately half of the Hermit Thrush's diet.

Description: A medium-sized thrush (approximately 6.75 inches in length), the Hermit Thrush appears larger-headed and shorter-tailed than other brown-backed thrushes. These thrushes have complete whitish eye-rings and an indistinct whitish bar over the lores. The upper parts are rich brown to grayish brown and the tail is reddish. The base color of the underparts is typically whitish with the breast washed in buff, especially in eastern birds, and the flanks are washed in gray or brownish, with dark round spots on the breast and sides of the throat.

Throughout their extensive range, Hermit Thrushes are highly variable in size and color. The many recognized subspecies fall generally into three groups that breed in three geographic areas: North America east of the Rocky Mountains, the interior mountain west from central Alaska south through the Sierra Nevada and Rocky Mountains, and the Pacific Coast. Of these groups, the Pacific Coast Hermit Thrushes are the smallest, and they have flanks washed with gray. Birds from the Pacific Northwest are the darkest, although those from the southern Pacific Coast are the palest and most lightly spotted Hermit Thrushes. The largest Hermit Thrushes are those from the interior mountain west. These birds have grayish upperparts with whiter, more-heavily-spotted breasts. Eastern birds are the most rufous with flanks washed in tawny brown.

Hermit Thrushes are distinguished from Wood Thrushes and Veeries by the location of the reddish coloration at the tail, rather than head (as on the Wood Thrush), or the upperparts generally (as on the Veery). The particularly rufous-colored Swainson's Thrushes of the Pacific area are distinguished by their distinctly buffy eye-ring and line over the lores and the strong buffy wash of the breast and throat. Gray-cheeked and Bicknell's thrushes may also show some reddish coloration, but they have a thin partial eye-ring and lack the pale line over the lores.


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