Wood Thrush Sounds

Overview
ID info
Life History
Maps
Sounds

Song
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New York, May 08, 2005Recorded by Michael Andersen | Macaulay Library
Song
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Maine, July 11, 1964Recorded by Richard W. Simmers | Macaulay Library
Calls
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Maryland, June 06, 1999Recorded by Wil Hershberger | Macaulay Library
Calls
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Puntarenas, January 09, 1989Recorded by David L. Ross, Jr. | Macaulay Library
Calls
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New Jersey, May 25, 1981Recorded by Dolly Minis | Macaulay Library
Calls
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New Jersey, May 16, 2012Recorded by Daniel Lane

Sounds provided by Macaulay Library.
Listen to more sounds of this species from the ML archive.

Songs

The Wood Thrush's easily recognized, flute-like ee-oh-lay is actually only the middle phrase of a three-part song. It learns the phrase from other Wood Thrushes and sings several variants with 2 to 10 loud, clear notes. Combining those with 1–3 variants of the low, soft notes of the introductory phrase and 6–12 variants of the final higher-pitched complex trill, a male can easily sing over 50 distinct songs. Individuals can be identified by the repeating order they sing their variants of the middle phrase in song after song.

Calls

A staccato bup-bup-bup call signals mild distress, but rises in pitch and grows louder and more complex with increasing agitation until it becomes a distinctive, machine-gun-like pit-pit-pit alarm. This call accompanies territory or nest defense. The male sometimes chatters a pit-pit call during nest building, when it may be part of mate guarding.