Forest Preserve District of Cook County (Illinois)
Nature Bulletin No. 263-A April 1, 1967
Forest Preserve District of Cook County
Richard B. Ogilvie, President
Roland F. Eisenbeis, Supt. of Conservation
****:THE THRUSHES
Birds of the Thrush Family, numbering some 600 species, are found all
over the world with the exception of some of the Polynesian islands in
the Pacific. It includes such famous European songsters as the song
thrush, or mavis, and the nightingale; and the hermit thrush, the wood
thrush, and the veery or Wilson's thrush of North America. Although
many are inconspicuously marked with browns, buffs and grays, and so
shy and retiring that they are seldom seen by the ordinary observer, this
family also includes those brightly colored and friendly birds -- the
robin and the bluebird -- both famous as harbingers of spring. The
thrushes have inspired more sentimental writings, more lyrical poetry
and purple prose, both good and bad, than any other group of birds.
The family has a distinguishing trait: the young all have spotted breasts,
regardless of their adult plumage. This is especially noticeable in the
robin and the bluebird, Generally, too, they have large eyes, rather long
slender legs, and do not walk but hop along on the ground. Otherwise,
they vary greatly. Some live and nest in trees, others on the ground, and
others in rocky places. Some eat mostly fruits, others insects, and many
eat both -- according to the season.
Our common robin was so named by the early colonists because it
reminded them of the English robin redbreast, a bird about half as large,
with a bright orange-red throat and breast, belonging to the warbler
family. Our robin was probably a bird of the forests then, but now it
prefers to live close to farmsteads, suburban homes, and even in
crowded cities. He knows all the folks and we all know him. They hop
about on our lawns and nest in all sorts of queer places, as well as in
trees. Except during migrations, they are seldom in wild deep
woodlands and are probably not as numerous as some other less
familiar birds. Huge flocks winter in our southern states but many
remain here, most of them hardy individuals from Canada, and these are
the "first robins" gleefully reported each year.
V/hen we see the first bluebird, with his sky-blue back and reddish-
brown breast, and hear his soft warbling to his duller-colored mate, we
know that spring is near. Bluebirds may nest in a tree cavity made by
some woodpecker, and will chip out their own cavity in a decayed limb,
fencepost, or telephone pole but, like the wren, they will nest in bird
houses, or even a rural mail box. Most thrushes' eggs are a greenish
"robin's egg" blue but the bluebird's eggs are pale bluish-white. Unlike
the robin, they are never destructive of fruit and berry crops.
Early each spring, in the Chicago region, the Hermit Thrush passes
through on its way to our northern states and Canada where they nest on
damp or swampy ground in remote deep woodlands. This shy secretive
bird is also called the American Nightingale, or Swamp Angel, because
of the singular beauty of its solemn flute-like song. Later, we see large
numbers of the Olive-backed Thrust which nests chiefly in Canada, and
smaller numbers of the Gray-cheeked Thrush on their way to northern
Canada and Alaska.
The Veery, another shy ground-nesting thrush, is fairly common here
and its unique song, of a tremulous but resonant quality, is often heard
at twilight. The Wood Thrush, a handsome bird with heart-shaped spots
on its white breast, is more friendly and more frequently seen. Its song
is as beautiful as that of the hermit thrush. The brown thrasher,
somewhat similar, is not a thrush. Chicago bird lovers were in a dither
over the appearance, in one of the north shore suburbs this winter, of a
Varied Thrush or Alaska Robin -- a bird of western North America.
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