Varied Thrush

Overview

Varied Thrush: Large thrush, dark gray upperparts, rust-brown throat, breast, sides, eyebrows, black breast band, and white belly and undertail. Wings are dark gray with two rust-brown bars. Tail is dark gray with white corners. Legs and feet are brown. Direct, swift flight on rapidly beating wings.

Range and Habitat

Varied Thrush: Breeds from Alaska and Yukon south to Oregon, California, Idaho, and Montana. Spends winters from coastal Alaska southward. Preferred habitats include dense coniferous or deciduous forests with abundant water.

INTERESTING FACTS

The Varied Thrush defends and maintains small feeding territories around bird feeders.
They are aggressive and dominate many other feeder bird species.
The best clue to this bird's presence is usually its song, which often seems to emanate from the forest itself, and is generally unhelpful to observers wishing to locate the singer.
There is an extremely rare variant of this species in which all the orange in the plumage is replaced by white.
A group of thrushes are collectively known as a "hermitage" and a "mutation" of thrushes.

The Varied Thrush has a large range, estimated globally at 3,300,000 square kilometers. Native to the United States, Canada, and Mexico, this bird prefers boreal or temperate forest ecosystems. The global population of this bird is estimated at 26,000,000 individuals and does not show signs of decline that would necessitate inclusion on the IUCN Red List. For this reason, the current evaluation status of the Varied Thrush is Least Concern.