The hermit thrush (''Catharus guttatus'') is a medium-sized North American thrush. It is not very closely related to the other North American migrant species of ''Catharus'', but rather to the Mexican

russet nightingale-thrush The russet nightingale-thrush (''Catharus occidentalis'') is a species of bird in the family Turdidae. It is endemic to Mexico. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests. Description Crown, back and wings brown. Face ...

. The specific name ''guttatus'' is

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

for "spotted".

Description

This species measures in length, spans across the wings and weighs . Among standard measurements, the wing chord is , the

bill Bill(s) may refer to: Common meanings * Banknote, paper cash (especially in the United States) * Bill (law), a proposed law put before a legislature * Invoice, commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer * Bill, a bird or animal's beak Plac ...

is and the tarsus is . It is more compact and stockier than other North American ''Catharus'' thrushes, with relatively longer wings. The hermit thrush has the white-dark-white underwing pattern characteristic of ''Catharus'' thrushes. Adults are mainly brown on the upperparts, with reddish tails. The underparts are white with dark spots on the breast and grey or brownish flanks. They have pink legs and a white eye ring. Birds in the east are more olive-brown on the upperparts; western birds are more grey-brown.

Behavior

Hermit thrushes breed in

conifer Conifers are a group of conifer cone, cone-bearing Spermatophyte, seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Scientifically, they make up the phylum, division Pinophyta (), also known as Coniferophyta () or Coniferae. The division contains a single ...

ous or mixed woods across Canada, southern Alaska, and the northeastern and western United States. They make a cup nest on the ground or relatively low in a tree. While most hermit thrushes migrate to wintering grounds in the southern United States and south to Central America, some remain in northern coastal US states and southern Ontario. Identification of spotted thrushes is simplified by the fact that hermit thrush is the only spotted thrush normally found in North America during winter. They usually breed in forests, but will sometimes winter in parks and wooded suburban neighborhoods. They are very rare vagrants to western Europe and northeast Asia. They forage on the forest floor, also in trees or shrubs, mainly eating insects and berries.

Song

The hermit thrush's song has been described as "the finest sound in nature" and is ethereal and flute-like, consisting of a beginning note, then several descending musical phrases in a minor key, repeated at different pitches. It often sings from a high open location. Analysis of the notes of its song indicates that they are related by harmonic simple integer pitch ratios, like many kinds of human music and unlike the songs of other birds that have been similarly examined.

In culture

The hermit thrush is the state bird of

Vermont Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to ...

Walt Whitman Walter Whitman (; May 31, 1819 – March 26, 1892) was an American poet, essayist and journalist. A humanist, he was a part of the transition between transcendentalism and realism, incorporating both views in his works. Whitman is among t ...

construes the hermit thrush as a symbol of the American voice, poetic and otherwise, in his elegy for Abraham Lincoln, "

When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd "When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd" is a long poem written by American poet Walt Whitman (1819–1892) as an elegy to President Abraham Lincoln. It was written in the summer of 1865 during a period of profound national mourning in the af ...

," one of the fundamental texts in the American literary canon. "A Hermit Thrush" is the name of a poem by the American poet Amy Clampitt. A hermit thrush appears in the fifth section ("What the Thunder Said") of the T. S. Eliot poem ''

The Waste Land ''The Waste Land'' is a poem by T. S. Eliot, widely regarded as one of the most important poems of the 20th century and a central work of modernist poetry. Published in 1922, the 434-line poem first appeared in the United Kingdom in the Octob ...

''. Former Canadian

indie-rock Indie rock is a subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the music they produce ...

band

Thrush Hermit Thrush Hermit was a Canadian alternative rock band active in the 1990s, known for their "highly energetic, humorous, and unpredictable performances," as quoted by Vice News. History Thrush Hermit was formed in Halifax, Nova Scotia in 1992 by Jo ...

took their name from a reversal of the bird's name. It is also shared by the American bands Hermit Thrushes and

Hermit Thrush The hermit thrush (''Catharus guttatus'') is a medium-sized North American thrush. It is not very closely related to the other North American migrant species of ''Catharus'', but rather to the Mexican russet nightingale-thrush. The specific na ...

Gallery

File:Hermit thrush in Prospect Park (15404).jpg, Adult in New York City, showing reddish tail File:HermitThrush63.jpg,

Ocala National Forest The Ocala National Forest ls the second largest nationally protected forest in the U.S. State of Florida. It covers of northern Florida. It is located three miles (5 km) east of Ocala and southeast of Gainesville. The Ocala National Fo ...

, Florida 2008 File:Catharus guttatus.ogv, Hermit thrush singing

References

Works cited

*Winker, Kevin & Pruett, Christin L. (2006):
Seasonal migration, speciation, and morphological convergence in the avian genus ''Catharus'' (Turdidae).
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Auk An auk or alcid is a bird of the family Alcidae in the order Charadriiformes. The alcid family includes the murres, guillemots, auklets, puffins, and murrelets. The word "auk" is derived from Icelandic ''álka'', from Old Norse ''alka'' (a ...

'' 123(4): 1052–1068. DOI: 10.1642/0004-8038(2006)123 052:SMSAMC.0.CO;2

External links

Hermit thrush - ''Catharus guttarus''
- USGS Patuxent Bird Identification InfoCenter
Hermit thrush species account
- Cornell Lab of Ornithology * * * {{Taxonbar, from=Q846350

hermit thrush The hermit thrush (''Catharus guttatus'') is a medium-sized North American thrush. It is not very closely related to the other North American migrant species of ''Catharus'', but rather to the Mexican russet nightingale-thrush. The specific na ...

Native birds of Alaska Birds of Canada Native birds of the Northwestern United States Native birds of the Northeastern United States Birds of the Sierra Nevada (United States) Symbols of Vermont

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