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Swainson's Thrush | Catharus ustulatus
Dwerglijster | Zorzalito de Swainson
Swainson's Thrush is the most frequently seen Catharus thrush in the Caribbean. The eastern populations migrate south via Florida and pass in numbers through Cuba, the Cayman Islands and the Bahamas on their way to wintering grounds from Panama to Bolivia. Further east the species quickly becomes scarcer.
Voice
On migration mainly a liquid, short whit or quip, repeated when alarmed. The nocturnal flight call is a short, rising heep, like a frog. Some birds already sing in spring: a series of fluted notes spiralling upwards.
Recording: Jeff Stewart — CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 · converted to mono · xeno-canto
Identification
16–20 cm, slim, with a short bill and a fairly short tail. Upperparts uniform olive-brown, without a rufous tail. The buff 'spectacles' are distinctive: a broad buff eye-ring joined by a pale line to the bill. Cheeks and breast are washed buff, the breast with dark triangular spots that fade towards the flanks; belly white, flanks grey-brown. The base of the lower mandible is pale yellow. The sexes are alike.
Confusion species
Grey-cheeked Thrush Catharus minimus and Bicknell's Thrush Catharus bicknelli have grey cheeks, a faint grey eye-ring and no buff spectacles. Veery Catharus fuscescens is warmer rufous-brown above, with faint, pale spots on the breast. Hermit Thrush Catharus guttatus has a rufous tail that contrasts with the brown back. Wood Thrush Hylocichla mustelina is larger, with a rusty crown and large round spots extending onto the belly.
Habitat
On migration in all kinds of forest with cover: moist and dry broadleaf forest, coastal woodland and limestone forest, also parks and gardens with fruiting trees. It forages less on the ground than other Catharus thrushes and in autumn eats much fruit and many berries in shrubs and trees. It migrates at night and rests in cover by day.
Where the bird is most at home, classified by the vegetation types of the Caribbean.
Range and movements
A passage migrant, fairly common in Cuba, the Cayman Islands and the Bahamas; scarcer on Jamaica, Hispaniola, Puerto Rico and the Turks and Caicos Islands. Rare in the Virgin Islands, some Lesser Antilles (including Guadeloupe) and Bonaire and Curaçao. Wintering in the region has not been established. It breeds in coniferous and mixed forest from Alaska and Canada to the western and north-eastern United States and winters from Mexico to Bolivia and northern Argentina.
- Resident
- Summer visitor (c. Oct–Mar)
- Winter visitor (c. Apr–Sep)
- Passage (Mar–Apr, Oct–Nov)
- dark = core range, pale = thinly spread
How and when to look
The best time is October in western Cuba and on Grand Cayman, when many thrushes arrive together after a cold front. Fruiting trees at forest edges and in gardens are good places to look. The buff spectacles are the key feature; the call helps in doubtful cases.
Conservation status
Not threatened. The population is large but declining in parts of the breeding range. Many birds die in collisions with buildings and communication towers during night migration.
Scientific name
Catharus ustulatus | (Nuttall, 1840)
Nuttall described the species in 1840 as Turdus ustulatus; because it was later moved to another genus, the author and year stand in brackets. The genus Catharus was introduced in 1850 by Bonaparte. Catharus is from Ancient Greek katharos 'pure, clean', a name given for the clean plumage of the orange-billed nightingale-thrush. ustulatus is Latin for 'scorched, burnt', after the brown upperparts. The specimen the first description was based on came from Fort Vancouver, Washington, USA.