Photo courtesy Charles Martinez
This week’s Bird of the Week, compliments of the Weminuche Audubon Society and Audubon Rockies, is the hermit thrush.
Ethereal, haunting, flute-like are all descriptions of the tune of this little bird which populates our summertime forests. Airflow in each of the 2 halves of the syrinx, the singing organ of these birds, can be managed individually. This permits the bird to produce 2 various noises at the same time, in impact balancing with itself.
Although the tune brings a cross country, as its name recommends, the hermit thrush frequently leads a peaceful, singular life in the shaded understory of the thick forests and thickets where it lives. Unusually big eyes for its size are an adjustment to the low-light conditions of this environment.
You may come across a hermit thrush silently hopping throughout the ground in a cleaning in the woods, where it forages for a range of pests, spiders and earthworms. It searches through the ground litter for food, utilizing its costs to turn over leaves or a foot to shake pests from the yard. Later in the season berries and fruits are contributed to the diet plan.
When surprised the hermit thrush will typically perch close to the ground, snapping its wings while rapidly raising and gradually decreasing its reddish tail. It is smaller sized than a robin and has a brown back and pale, found underparts. A thin ring details its eyes.
The less typical Swainson’s thrush, likewise discovered here in summertime, has a comparable look however does not have the red tail color and has a more unique eye ring.
In summertime, hermit thrush can be discovered in northern and mountain conifer and combined forests. In winter season, they pull away to southern states and Mexico. Now is the best time to pick a peaceful area in the woods and catch the magic of the tune of the hermit thrush that appears to come from all over as it bounces through the trees.
For info on occasions, see www.weminucheaudubon.org and www.facebook.com/weminucheaudubon/.
