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Wood Thrush

Hylocichla mustelina ORDER: PASSERIFORMES FAMILY: TURDIDAE

IUCN Conservation Status: Least Concern

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One of the most common woodland birds of the East, the Wood Thrush is best known for its hauntingly beautiful song. A large and heavily spotted thrush, it is a bird of the interior forest, seldom seen outside the deep woods. Its susceptibility to cowbird parasitism has made it a heavily studied species.

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Appearance

Thrushes
Thrushes
Typical Voice

Adult Description

  • A large forest thrush, just slightly smaller than an American Robin.
  • Back brown, chest white with large dark spots.

Immature Description

Juvenal plumage similar to adults but with tawny spots and streaks on back, neck, and wings.

Range Map Help

Wood Thrush Range Map
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Field MarksHelp

  • Adult
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    Wood Thrush

    Adult
    • Large, pot-bellied thrush
    • Short tail
    • Bright brick-red above
    • White below with dense, dark spotting
    • © Eddie Callaway, Rockford, Illinois, May 2008
  • Adult
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    Wood Thrush

    Adult
    • Large, pot-bellied thrush
    • Bill thicker than in other thrushes
    • Bright brick red above, brightest on head and nape
    • Dense, dark spotting on breast and flanks
    • © Roy Brown Photography, Dauphin Island, Alabama, April 2010
  • Adult
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    Wood Thrush

    Adult
    • Large, pot-bellied thrush
    • Long pink legs
    • Bright brick-red above, brightest on head and nape
    • Bold, dark spots on breast and flanks
    • © Kelly Colgan Azar, Chester County, Pennsylvania, June 2010
  • Adult brooding chicks
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    Wood Thrush

    Adult brooding chicks
    • Heavy-bodied thrush with stout bill
    • Brick red above
    • White below with heavy spotting on breast
    • © Kelly Colgan Azar, Chester County, Pennsylvania, June 2010

Similar Species

  • Juvenile
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    American Robin

    Juvenile
    • Superficially similar to Wood Thrush
    • Slaty gray above
    • Pale stripe above eye
    • Buffy orange flanks and belly
    • © barnmom42, Pennsylvania, February 2008
  • Adult
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    Hermit Thrush

    Adult
    • Similar to Wood Thrush but smaller and more slender
    • Longer tail
    • Drab grayish-brown above
    • Contrasting brick-red tail
    • © Isabel Cutler, North Carolina, March 2010
  • Adult
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    Ovenbird

    Adult
    • Much smaller and daintier than Wood Thrush
    • Perches horizontally with tail cocked up at angle
    • Dull olive-brown above
    • Rusty stripe on crown
    • © Christopher L. Wood, Florida, May 2007
  • Adult
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    Swainson's Thrush

    Adult
    • Similar to Wood Thrush but smaller and more slender
    • Small bill
    • Dull olive-gray above
    • Buffy wash on face and neck
    • © Tom Smith, Garrett Mountain Reservation, Woodland Park, New Jersey, May 2010

Similar Species

  • Veery is reddish but not bright rufous, and has very few indistinct spots on chest.
  • Hermit Thrush has reddish tail, but the rest of the upperparts are dark brown. Spots on chest are relatively indistinct and they do not reach the belly.
  • Brown Thrasher is similar in color but has a long tail, wingbars, and streaks, not spots, on the chest. It lives in scrubby areas rather than forests, but the two species can overlap on migration.