The Hermit Thrush ( Catharus guttatus) is a captivating songbird, known for its beautiful melodies and unassuming nature. This article delves into the dietary habits and foraging behaviors of this species, shedding light on how it thrives in diverse environments.
General Information about Thrushes
Belonging to the thrush family, these birds are part of the larger group of passerines, which constitute over half of the world's bird species. Passerines are generally small, possess relatively large brains, and exhibit advanced learning capabilities compared to other birds. Within the passerine order, oscines, or true songbirds, are capable of more complex songs. The thrush family is widespread, and the eight species found regularly in Washington, for example, demonstrate a diet that shifts seasonally between insects and other invertebrates during the summer and berries during the winter. Most thrushes are short-distance migrants, though some migrate to the tropics. Many of them forage primarily on the ground.
Identification and Habitat
The Hermit Thrush is closely related to the American Robin and the bluebird, sharing similar physical characteristics, such as a chunky body, wide ringed eyes, and long tail. However, the Hermit Thrush is slightly smaller and has a plainer appearance, with a brown body, speckled breast, and reddish tail. The Hermit Thrush is one of the most widely distributed forest-nesting migratory birds in North America. They inhabit a wide variety of habitats, from boreal forests to deciduous woods and mountain forests. Look for them in open areas inside forests, such as trails, pond edges, mountain glades, or areas partially opened up by fallen trees. They can be found in coniferous and mixed woodlands during the nesting season, and in other woodlands during winter and migration. In winter, Hermit Thrushes often occupy lower-elevation forests with dense understory and berry bushes, including pine, broadleaf evergreen, and deciduous woods. In Mexico, they have been seen around streams and urban lawns.
Nesting Habits
The Hermit Thrush exhibits variable nesting habits depending on the region. West of the Rocky Mountains, the Hermit Thrush nests in trees, especially conifers, typically 3-12 feet above the ground. East of the Rockies, the Hermit Thrush will construct its cup-shaped nest on the ground, concealing it in tall grasses and other vegetation. Open spaces near berry and fern thickets, pasture edges, and forest roads are common sites. The nest is a bulky, well-made open cup of moss, weeds, twigs, bark strips, and ferns, lined with softer materials such as pine needles, rootlets, and plant fibers. The female alone builds the nest from grass, leaves, pine needles, and bits of wood, with mud and lichen around the outside, and lines it with finer plant materials and willow catkins. The finished nest is 4-6 inches across, with a cup that is 2-3 inches wide and 1-2 inches deep. The female takes 7-10 days to build the nest. The male defends nesting territory by singing, especially in morning and evening.
Nesting Facts
- Clutch Size: 3-6 eggs, sometimes 3-5, rarely 6
- Number of Broods: Usually 1-2 broods per year, perhaps sometimes 3 in south
- Egg Length: 0.8-1.0 in (2-2.5 cm)
- Egg Width: 0.6-0.7 in (1.5-1.8 cm)
- Incubation Period: About 12 days, typically 11-13 days. Incubation is by female
- Nestling Period: Young are ready to fly at about 12 days, typically 10-15 days
- Egg Description: Pale blue or greenish blue, occasionally flecked with brown or black
- Condition at Hatching: Helpless, with just a few tufts of dark gray down. Eyes closed
Both parents feed nestlings. The female removes eggshells from the nest after young hatch. Young leave the nest 10 to 12 days after hatching, sometimes hopping from the nest towards a parent on the ground.
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Foraging Behavior
The Hermit Thrush is often a ground forager, pecking around soil and lifting leaves in search of insects. They do much foraging on ground, picking up insects from leaf-litter or soil, and also feed up in shrubs and trees, often hovering momentarily while grabbing an insect or berry. They also deploy a bit of fancy footwork as a foraging technique known as “foot quivering.” Using one foot, they’ll shake grasses to release insects. Hermit Thrushes forage on the forest floor and will often hop and then stay still, peering at the ground. They sometimes pick up leaf litter with their bills or shake grass with their feet to find insects.
Diet
The Hermit Thrush has a varied diet that changes with the seasons. Primarily, it consists of insects and berries. In spring and summer, the Hermit Thrush eats mainly insects such as beetles, caterpillars, bees, ants, wasps, and flies. They also occasionally eat small amphibians and reptiles. They feed on a variety of insects, including beetles, ants, caterpillars, true bugs, grasshoppers, crickets, and many others, as well as spiders, earthworms, and rarely small salamanders. In their winter territories, the Hermit Thrush will forage for berries. As the seasons change, their diet shifts to include many berries, especially in winter, including elderberries, pokeberries, serviceberries, grapes, and mistletoe berries, among others. The vegetable and fruit content in the diet of Hermit Thrushes varies with availability. The Hermit Thrush will, occasionally, visit a bird feeder, especially during the migration season. The Hermit Thrush eats a wide variety of food items, varying from season to season. During migration, it eats primarily fruit, such as raspberries, pokeberries, serviceberries, grapes, and elderberries. During spring, summer, and early fall the Hermit Thrush feeds on insects and small invertebrates.
Additional Behaviors
When a bird lands, it may quickly raise and then slowly lower its tail, and produce a distinctive "tchup" call when doing this. The Hermit Thrush habitually lifts their tail upward and then slowly lower it, often flicking their wings as well. The Hermit Thrush may respond to predators by crouching and pulling back its head. During courtship, the male chases the female in circles, then the pair adopts a slower flying pattern after one or two days. Males are territorial during breeding and winter seasons. Males arrive on breeding grounds before females and establish territories. After a three-to four-day courtship flight, they accept the female. In wintering areas it is speculated that competition for food and cover causes the thrush to become territorial.
Conservation Status
Hermit Thrush populations stayed relatively stable between 1966 and 2019, according to the North American Breeding Bird Survey. Partners in Flight estimates a global breeding population of 72 million and rates them 6 out of 20 on the Continental Concern Score, indicating a species of low conservation concern. Like almost all migrant songbirds, Hermit Thrushes migrate at night and can be drawn toward transmission towers and skyscrapers, where they are killed in collisions. According to bird surveys, the Hermit Thrush population is stable or even possibly increasing. The reasons for this may be due to the fact that it is somewhat tolerant of disturbances and prefers large mature forests. Hermit Thrushes are less dependent on wintering habitat in the tropics than are the other thrushes, which may be one reason the population is doing as well as it is.
Attracting Hermit Thrushes
There are several ways to attract Hermit Thrushes to your yard. As much of their diet is composed of fruits and berries, planting a berry bush will provide them an excellent foraging opportunity. Thrushes also enjoy raisins, grapes, and suet, which can be offered on a platform feeder. Earthworms and other invertebrates make up part of the Hermit Thrushes' diet as well.
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