18-605: 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 name guttatus is Latin for "spotted", though historically this species has been given 17 additional species or subspecies names by various authors, now all treated as synonyms. This species measures 15 to 18 cm (5.9 to 7.1 in) in length, spans 25 to 30 cm (9.8 to 11.8 in) across
36-453: A cup nest on the ground or relatively low in a tree. They usually breed in forests, but will sometimes winter in parks and wooded suburban neighborhoods. Hermit thrushes forage on the forest floor , as well as in trees or shrubs, mainly eating insects and berries. 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
54-408: 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. The hermit thrush is the state bird of Vermont . Walt Whitman construes the hermit thrush as a symbol of
72-587: A reversal of the bird's name. It is also shared by the American bands Hermit Thrushes and Hermit Thrush . Thrush (bird) The thrushes are a passerine bird family , Turdidae , with a worldwide distribution. The family was once much larger before biologists reclassified the former subfamily Saxicolinae, which includes the chats and European robins, as Old World flycatchers . Thrushes are small to medium-sized ground living birds that feed on insects, other invertebrates, and fruit. Some unrelated species around
90-583: Is the great thrush at 128 to 175 g ( 4 + 1 ⁄ 2 to 6 + 1 ⁄ 8 oz) and 28 to 33 cm (11 to 13 in); the larger, commonly recognized blue whistling thrush is an Old world flycatcher . The Amami thrush might, however, grow larger than the great thrush . Most species are grey or brown in colour, often with speckled underparts. They are insectivorous , but most species also eat worms, land snails , and fruit (usually berries ). Many species are permanently resident in warm climates, while others migrate to higher latitudes during
108-561: The American voice, poetic and otherwise, in his elegy for Abraham Lincoln, " When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd ," 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 . Former Canadian indie-rock band Thrush Hermit took their name from
126-586: The French polymath Constantine Samuel Rafinesque in 1815. The taxonomic treatment of this large family has varied significantly in recent years. Traditionally, the Turdidae included the small Old World species, like the nightingale and European robin in the subfamily Saxicolinae, but most authorities now place this group in the Old World flycatcher family Muscicapidae . Molecular phylogenetic analysis has shown that
144-479: The dispersal of many species and the recovery of ecosystems. Plants have limited seed dispersal mobility away from the parent plant and consequently rely upon a variety of dispersal vectors to transport their propagules, including both abiotic and biotic vectors. Seeds can be dispersed away from the parent plant individually or collectively, as well as dispersed in both space and time. Many bats and birds rely heavily on fruits for their diet, including birds in
162-414: The eggs of molluscs and other invertebrates commonly establish in remote areas after long journeys of this sort. The Turdidae have a great ecological importance because some populations migrate long distances and disperse the seeds of endangered plant species at new sites, helping to eliminate inbreeding and increasing the genetic diversity of local flora. The family Turdidae was introduced (as Turdinia) by
180-421: The families Cotingidae , Columbidae , Trogonidae , Turdidae, and Ramphastidae . While eating fruit, these animals swallow seeds and then later regurgitate them or pass them in their faeces. Such ornithochory has been a major mechanism of seed dispersal across ocean barriers. Other seeds may stick to the feet or feathers of birds and in this way may travel long distances. Seeds of grasses, spores of algae, and
198-667: The family Turdidae is a member of the superfamily Muscicapoidea and is sister to the family Muscicapidae . The two families diverged in the Miocene around 17 million years ago. The family formerly included more species. At the time of the publication of the third edition of Howard and Moore Complete Checklist of the Birds of the World in 2003, the genera Myophonus , Alethe , Brachypteryx and Heinrichia were included in Turdidae. Subsequent molecular phylogenetic studies have shown that
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#1733202034858216-525: The northeastern and western United States. They are very rare vagrants to western Europe and northeast Asia. 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. Hermit thrushes make
234-588: The past been trapped and eaten in much of Europe; the practice is now rare. Among traditional ways of cooking thrush were with polenta or grilled on a skewer, in Italy; with juniper berries in Belgium; and made into a pâté or terrine . The French cook and cookery writer Marie-Antoine Carême recommended cooking thrushes in crépinettes and serving with sauce Périgueux . Shortwing (bird) The shortwings are colourful medium-sized mostly insectivorous birds in
252-479: The species in these four genera are more closely related to species in the family Muscicapidae . As a consequence, these four genera are now placed in Muscicapidae. In contrast, the genus Cochoa which had previously been placed in Muscicapidae, was shown to belong in Turdidae. The family contains 191 species, which are divided into 17 genera: The thrush is one of the many kinds of small bird that have in
270-433: The summer, often over considerable distances. Thrushes build cup-shaped nests , sometimes lining them with mud. They lay two to five speckled eggs, sometimes laying two or more clutches per year. Both parents help raise the young. In almost all cases, the nest is placed on a branch; the only exceptions are the three species of bluebird , which nest in holes. Turdidae species spread the seeds of plants, contributing to
288-450: 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. Hermit thrushes breed in coniferous or mixed woods across Canada, southern Alaska, and
306-399: The wings and weighs 18 to 37 g (0.63 to 1.31 oz). Among standard measurements, the wing chord is 7.8 to 11.1 cm (3.1 to 4.4 in), the bill is 1.6 to 1.9 cm (0.63 to 0.75 in) and the tarsus is 2.7 to 3.3 cm (1.1 to 1.3 in). It is more compact and stockier than other North American Catharus thrushes, with relatively longer wings. The hermit thrush has
324-428: The world have been named after thrushes due to their similarity to birds in this family. Thrushes are plump, soft-plumaged, small to medium-sized birds that inhabit wooded areas and often feed on the ground. The smallest thrush may be the shortwings , which have ambiguous alliances with both thrushes and Old World flycatchers . The lesser shortwing averages 12 cm ( 4 + 1 ⁄ 2 in). The largest thrush
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