Catharus guttatus
The hermit thrush is the only member of its genus that spends the winter in North America. Like the robin, it switches its diet from eating invertebrates in summer to insects and fruit in winter. The bird pictured here was spotted at the Fielding-Garr Ranch on Antelope Island.
It is a medium-sized thrush at 6 inches with a brown back and reddish tail. The chest has black spots. The eye shows a thin white eye ring. A behavior to note in the field is the quick cocking up and slow lowering motion of its tail while it flicks its wings.
The hermit thrush is often heard before being seen. Its song is a delightful melodious, warbling, flutelike sound.
It is a niche bird locating suitable habitat that is sandwiched between the Swainson's thrush at higher elevations and the veery at lower elevation in the eastern Appalachians.
Eastern hermit thrush are ground nesters, but while here in the West, they usually nest in trees.
They breed from southern Alaska through Canada, southward to the northeastern states and into the Appalachians, and in the West southward to southern Arizona. Wintering grounds are from southern Arizona to southern Missouri and Connecticut, southward to the Gulf of Mexico and through Mexico to El Salvador.
The favorite habitat of the hermit thrush is deciduous, mixed and coniferous forest. It is an edge bird. Winter is spent in the type of habitat found around the Fielding-Garr Ranch on Antelope Island: woody growth and open woodland groves where it has moist and dense cover.
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* BILL FENIMORE is owner of the Layton Wild Bird Center. The Wild Bird Center is holding a free trip on Nov. 10 on the roof of the LDS Conference Center at Temple Square in Salt Lake City. Call 801-525-8400 or visit www.wildbird.com/layton for information regarding free bird/nature walks.
