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.