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Wood Thrush

Hylocichla mustelina ORDER: PASSERIFORMES FAMILY: TURDIDAE

IUCN Conservation Status: Least Concern

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Wood Thrush Photo

© J.R.Woodward / CLO

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.

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Wood Thrush Range Map
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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.