Hermit Thrush
I heard my first-of-the-year (FOY) Hermit Thrush during my rainy walk along the creek corridor this morning. I’ll admit now that their screy call used to really trip me up when I was a novice birder. In fact, there were three somewhat similar bird calls I would get mixed up this time of year: Hermit Thrush, Eastern Towhee, and Yellow-bellied Sapsucker.
Here are their calls:
Hermit Thrush:
Eastern Towhee:
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker:
I think most intermediate birders can pick out Yellow-bellied Sapsucker with relative ease, but I’ve witnessed even experienced birders confuse Hermit Thrush with Eastern Towhee. And, as Nature is often so inclined, there exists call variation to raise the identification challenge.
Pheasant Branch, Dane, Wisconsin, US
Apr 6, 2016 7:00 AM - 8:15 AM
49 species
Canada Goose
Wood Duck
Mallard
Blue-winged Teal
Northern Shoveler
Green-winged Teal
Lesser Scaup
Bufflehead
Pied-billed Grebe
Great Blue Heron
American Coot
Sandhill Crane
Killdeer
Ring-billed Gull
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Great Horned Owl
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Downy Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
American Kestrel
Eastern Phoebe
Blue Jay
American Crow
Tree Swallow
Black-capped Chickadee
Tufted Titmouse
White-breasted Nuthatch
Brown Creeper
Winter Wren
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Hermit Thrush
American Robin
European Starling
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Field Sparrow
Fox Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
Song Sparrow
Northern Cardinal
Red-winged Blackbird
Eastern Meadowlark
Common Grackle
Brown-headed Cowbird
House Finch
American Goldfinch
Audio Clips from All About Birds
Hermit Thrush © 2016 Mike McDowell