Gray-cheeked Thrush, Catharus minimus
Thrushes
The Gray-cheeked Thrush, Catharus minimus, is a medium-sized thrush. This species is 15-17 cm in length, and has the white-dark-white underwing patterm characteristic of Catharus thrushes.
It is a member of a close-knit group of migrant species together with the Veery and Bicknell's Thrush (Winker & Pruett, 2006); it forms a cryptic species pair with the latter. The Gray-cheeked Thrush is all but indistinguishable from Bicknell's Thrush except by its slightly larger size and the two were formerly considered conspecific (of, or belonging to, the same species).
Description:
Adults are olive-brown on the upperparts. The underparts are white with gray on the flanks; the breast is greyish brown with darker spots. They have pink legs and a faint grey eye ring. They have grey cheeks.
Range / Breeding:
Their breeding habitat is the northern spruce forests across northern Canada and Alaska. They make a cup nest in a low location on a conifer or on the ground at the base of a shrub. Like Bicknell's Thrush, they are very secretive during the nesting season.
These birds migrate to northern South America. This species is a rare vagrant to Europe. Its northerly breeding range and long-distance migration make it one of the more regular North American passerine migrants to cross the Atlantic.
Diet / Feeding:
They forage on the forest floor, mainly eating insects and berries.
Call / Vocalization:
This bird's song is a distant-sounding series of flute-like tones rising then falling in pitch.
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