All species › Passerines › Thrushes and allies › Swainson's Thrush
Position in the tree Birds Aves › Birds with a flexible palate Neognathae › All other modern birds Neoaves › Landbirds Telluraves › Falcons, parrots and passerines Australaves › Falcons and passerines Eufalconimorphae › Parrots and passerines Psittacopasserae
Swainson's Thrush | Catharus ustulatus
Dwerglijster | Zorzal de Swainson
Swainson's Thrush is a slim, olive-brown thrush with buffy spectacles and a spotted breast. It breeds in the conifer forests of Canada and the western and northern United States and passes through the guide area in large numbers on its way to wintering grounds largely in South America. Some birds winter in Mexico and Central America.
Voice
On migration mainly a liquid, short whit or kwip, repeated when agitated. The nocturnal flight call is a short, rising heep, reminiscent of a frog. In spring some birds already sing: a series of fluting 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 plain olive-brown, without a contrasting rufous tail; birds from the Pacific coast of North America are warmer rufous-brown. Characteristic is the broad buffy eye-ring, which continues via a pale lore to the bill, forming 'spectacles'. Cheeks and breast washed buff, the breast with dark, triangular spots that fade towards the flanks; belly white, flanks greyish brown. Base of the lower mandible pale yellow. The sexes are alike.
Confusion species
Gray-cheeked Thrush Catharus minimus has grey cheeks, a faint grey eye-ring without spectacles and lacks the buff tone on the breast. Veery Catharus fuscescens is warmer rufous-brown above, with a faint eye-ring and smaller, fainter spots. Hermit Thrush Catharus guttatus has a rufous tail contrasting with a browner back. Wood Thrush Hylocichla mustelina is larger, with a rusty head and large black spots extending onto the belly.
Habitat
On migration and in winter in almost any forest with undergrowth: humid lowland and foothill forest, montane forest, secondary forest, forest edges, shade coffee, parks and gardens with fruiting trees; from sea level high into the mountains. On migration it eats much fruit, also insects and other invertebrates, both on the ground and in trees.
Where the bird is most at home, classified by the vegetation units of Mexico and Central America.
Range and movements
Breeds from Alaska through Canada to the western and north-eastern United States. Passes through the entire guide area, mainly through eastern Mexico and along the Caribbean and Pacific slopes of Central America. Winters mainly in north-western South America; birds from the Pacific coast of North America partly winter in western and southern Mexico and in Central America.
- Passage (Mar–Apr, Oct–Nov)
- dark = core range, pale = thinly spread
How and when to look
During migration peaks in April and October often numerous in fruiting trees at forest edges and in gardens, for example around the Panama Canal and in the highlands of Costa Rica. On calm nights the flight call can be heard overhead.
Conservation status
Not threatened (LC). Widespread and numerous. On migration vulnerable to collisions with lit buildings and towers.
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.