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[Phyl]

Hermit Thrush, , continued

Status in Tennessee: The Hermit Thrush is an uncommon to fairly common migrant and winter resident across the state. It arrives in early October and departs by late April. A few pairs may possibly nest in the state and are restricted to the highest elevations (above 5,000 feet) in the mountains of East Tennessee. Continent wide, the population is slightly increasing.

Map of Hermit Thrush eBird observations in Tennessee


Fun Facts:

East of the Rocky Mountains Hermit Thrush nests are usually found on the ground. In the West they are more likely to be found in trees.
The oldest known Hermit Thrush in the wild was 9 years 9 months old.
Obsolete English Names: dwarf thrush

Best places to see in Tennessee: Never an easy bird to see, the Hermit Thrush is fairly common in forests with a well developed understory from early October to late April. It might also be found above 5,000 feet on Roan Mountain from early May through late June.

[Phyl]

Hermit Thrush, , continued





Sources:
Jones, P. W. and T. M. Donovan. 1996. Hermit Thrush (Catharus guttatus), The Birds of North America (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, PA, and The American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C.

Nicholson, C. P. 1997. Atlas of Breeding Birds of Tennessee. Univ. Tennessee Press, Knoxville.

Sibley, D. A. 2000. The Sibley Guide to Birds. A. A. Knopf, New York, NY.

[Phyl]

Wood Thrush,
 Hylocichla mustelina


The ethereal flutelike ee-oh-lay song of the Wood Thrush is one of the most hauntingly beautiful sounds in the Eastern forest.  Henry David Thoreau once wrote, "Whenever a man hears it, it is a new world and a free country, and the gates of heaven are not shut against him."

The Wood Thrush is found in larger woodlands across Tennessee from mid-April through mid-October, and though its population has been declining, it is still fairly common.  The breeding range extends across the eastern half of the United States and Wood Thrush migrate to Central America for the winter.

Description: This large forest thrush is just slightly smaller than an American Robin. The back of the head and nape are a bright orange-brown fading to olive-brown on the back and wings. The underparts are white with bold black spots; the legs are pink, and there is a bold white ring around the eye. Sexes are alike.

Length: 7.75"
Wingspan: 13"
Weight: 1.6 oz

Voice: The song is a melodic series of flute-like ee-oh-lay phrases, ending in a trill either higher or lower in pitch. The call is a rapid pit pit pit.

Similar Species:

Veery are reddish, not bright orange-brown, on the head and nape, and have few indistinct spots on the chest.
Hermit Thrushes have a reddish tail, but the rest of the upperparts are brown-olive. The spots on the chest are relatively indistinct and do not reach the belly.
Brown Thrashers are similar in color but have a long tail, wingbars, and streaks, not spots, on the chest. They live in scrubby areas rather than forests, but the two species can overlap on migration.
Habitat: Breeds in a wide variety of deciduous and mixed forests but needs a well-shaded understory, small trees with low, exposed branches, and a fairly open forest floor with leaf litter. Winters mostly in primary, broad-leaved forests at lower elevations.

Diet: Invertebrates and fruits; the latter are especially important during migration.

[Phyl]

Wood Thrush, continued

Nesting and reproduction: Wood Thrushes often raise two broods of young in a single nesting season. In fragmented forests they are a fairly common host to the Brown-headed Cowbird resulting in lower nesting success.

Clutch Size: Usually 3 or 4 eggs with 2 to 5 being rare.

Incubation: The female alone incubates the eggs for about two weeks.

Fledging: Both parents feed the nestlings, and the young leave the nest when about two weeks old becoming independent in 3 to 4 weeks.

Nest: The female builds the cup-nest of dead leaves and grasses held together with mud and lined with rootlets and grasses. It takes her approximately 3 to 6 days to complete the nest. It is usually placed in the fork of a horizontal or upward-sloping branch, often the lowest branch of a tree. In Tennessee nest heights range from 5 to 25 feet, with an average of 10 feet.

Status in Tennessee: While the Wood Thrush is still a relatively common summer resident across Tennessee, the Breeding Bird Survey reports a significantly declining population trend since 1966 when the survey began.

Destruction and fragmentation of forests in both breeding and wintering areas are factors in this decline. Wood Thrushes are present in the state from the first half of April until mid-October. The National Audubon Society has included the Wood Thrush as a Watch List Species.

Fun Facts:

Thrushes have a complicated syrinx (song box) that allows them to sing two notes simultaneously, thus harmonizing with their own voice.
Wood Thrushes are site faithful, often returning to the same breeding and wintering territory annually.
Recent studies at Cornell indicate that increased amounts of acid rain make the Wood Thrush less likely to breed. One reason is that acid rain can cause calcium to leach from the soil, and in an environment of reduced calcium, female birds may lay eggs that are thin, brittle, and porous.
The oldest known Wood Thrush in the wild was 8 years 11 months old.
Obsolete English Names: wood robin

Best places to see in Tennessee: Wood Thrushes may be found in most large tracks of deciduous forest across the state. High densities have been recorded in the Smoky Mountains and Cumberland Mountains.









Sources:

Nicholson, C. P. 1997. Atlas of Breeding Birds of Tennessee. Univ. Tennessee Press, Knoxville.

Roth, R. R., M. S. Johnson and T. J. Underwood. 1996. Wood Thrush (Hylocichla mustelina), The Birds of North America (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, PA, and The American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C.

Sibley, D. A. 2000. The Sibley Guide to Birds. A. A. Knopf, New York, NY.

[Phyl]

American Robin, Turdus migratorius



The American Robin is a familiar neighborhood bird tugging at earthworms on suburban lawns across the United States in summer. Surprisingly, it is also one of the most common birds at the northern limit of the boreal forest in the arctic! In winter these robins retreat to the lower 48 states and often roost in large flocks, sometimes numbering into the hundreds of thousands. More northerly nesters join Tennessee's resident birds during the non-breeding season.

Description: The American Robin is a large thrush with a gray back and wings, a plain orange breast, and a white lower belly. The head is dark with white crescents above and below the eye. The tail is moderately long with white spots at corners of the outer tail feathers.

The female is slightly paler than the male; the juvenile (May-September) looks somewhat similar to the adult, but with black spotting on the underparts and pale spotting on the upperparts.

Length: 10"
Wingspan: 17"
Weight: 2.7 oz

Voice: The song is a series of melodious liquid phrases, cheerup cheerily cheerily. Calls include a rapid tut tut tut and a chuckling horse-like whinny.

Similar Species:

No other North American bird is gray on the back and wings and has a plain orange breast.
Habitat: Found in forests, woodlands, and gardens. Common in urban and suburban areas, especially where short-grass areas are interspersed with shrubs and trees.

Diet: American Robins eat invertebrates, especially earthworms, and fruit.

Nesting and reproduction: In Tennessee American Robins usually raise two broods of young. Many start nesting in late winter, but peak egg laying is in mid-April.

Clutch Size: 3 to 5 eggs with 4 eggs most frequent.

Incubation: Females incubate the eggs for 12 to 14 days.

Fledging: Both adults feed the young. Fledglings leave the nest in about two weeks and remain dependent on their parents for another two weeks. Second broods are frequently begun before the fledglings from the first brood are fully independent.

Nest: The female builds an open cup-nest of grass and twigs held together with a thick layer of mud and lined with fine dry grass. The nest is usually relatively low in a tree on a firm branch with dense foliage, in the crotch of a large shrub, or occasionally on a ledge or other part of a building. In Tennessee nest heights range from 3 to 40 feet with an average of 11 feet. Old nests may be reused, but more frequently a new nest is build for the next brood.

Status in Tennessee: The American Robin is a common permanent resident across the state. The population in Tennessee, as well as rangewide, is increasing.

Map of American Robin eBird observations in Tennessee

[Phyl]

Gray Catbird
Dumetella carolinensis



This secretive bird of dense thickets gets its name from the cat-like mew call that it makes. The Gray Catbird's song is an exuberant series of musical whistles and catlike meows interspersed with imitations of other birds' songs. It may start singing before dawn and continue until after dusk, being one of the last birds to settle in for the night.

The Gray Catbird breeds across southern Canada and in all but the southwestern states.  In winter it is found along the East Coast and around the Gulf of Mexico into Central America and the Caribbean.  The Gray Catbird is fairly common in Tennessee from late April until October with a few individuals spending the winter scattered across the state.

Description: This is a plain gray, medium-sized songbird with a black cap, a long, black tail that is often cocked, and chestnut colored undertail coverts. The sexes are alike.

Length: 8.5"
Wingspan: 11"
Weight: 1.3 oz

Voice: The male Gray Catbird sings a long series of variable squeaks, whistles, and melodious notes. These notes can include imitations of other birds' songs, frogs, or even mechanical sounds. The call is a very cat-like mew. Females will also sing softly on occasion.

Similar Species:

Northern Mockingbirds are paler gray with white in the wings and tail.
Brown Thrashers or Northern Mockingbirds also mimic other bird species. Catbirds tend to repeat notes once, whereas thrashers repeat notes twice, and mockingbirds often repeat notes three or more times.
Habitat: Found in dense, shrubby habitats, such as abandoned farmland, fencerows, roadsides, streamsides, forest edges, and some residential areas.

Diet: Insects and small fruits.

Nesting and reproduction: Gray Catbirds only defend territories in a limited area around the nest. Adults may leave their territory to feed with other catbirds in undefended areas. In Tennessee they often raise two broods.

Clutch Size: Usually 3 to 5 eggs with 4 eggs most common in Tennessee. Peak egg laying occurs in mid-May and extends into early July.

Incubation: The female incubates the eggs for about 14 days and is often fed by her mate.

Fledging: Both adults feed the young, which fledge in about 11 days. They remain dependent on the adults for another two weeks.

Nest: The bulky nest, mainly constructed by the female, is made of twigs, grasses, and weed stems and lined with finer material. It is placed in a dense shrub, a small tree, or in vines.

Status in Tennessee: The Gray Catbird is an uncommon to fairly common summer resident across the state and a rare winter resident.  Most birds arrive in mid- to late April and depart by October.

Numbers have declined significantly since 1980 in Tennessee. The reasons for the decline are not known, but a decrease in suitable nesting habitat resulting from maturing forests, and a trend toward "cleaner" farms with fewer fencerows may be a contributing factor.

[Phyl]

Gray Catbird, continued


Map of Gray Catbird eBird observations in Tennessee


Fun Facts:

Gray Catbirds are able to sing such complicated songs partly because they have a complicated syrinx (song box) that allows them to sing two notes simultaneously.
The male Gray Catbird will sing loudly when announcing or defending his territory and more softly when near the nest or when an intruding catbird is nearby. The female may sing the quiet song back to her mate.
Unlike most songbirds Gray Catbirds can identify Brown-headed Cowbirds eggs and will eject them from their nests. This prevents catbirds from raising cowbird young at the expense of their own nestlings.
The oldest known Gray Catbird in the wild was 17 years 11 months old.
Obsolete English Names: common catbird, northern catbird

Best places to see in Tennessee: This species is never easy to see but can be easily heard in dense shrubby habitats, especially in the eastern two-thirds of the state.




Sources:

Cimprich, D. A. and F. R. Moore. 1995. Gray Catbird (Dumetella carolinensis), The Birds of North America (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, PA, and The American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C.

Nicholson, C. P. 1997. Atlas of Breeding Birds of Tennessee. Univ. Tennessee Press, Knoxville.

Sibley, D. A. 2000. The Sibley Guide to Birds. A. A. Knopf, New York, NY.

[Phyl]

Comming soon!

The state bird of Tennessee...

[Phyl]

Northern Mockingbird,
Mimus polyglottos



The Northern Mockingbird is the Tennessee state bird. The scientific name is appropriately Mimus polyglottos, translated as "many-tongued mimic." The name highlights the mockingbird's ability to mimic not only dozens of other birds' songs, but also man-made devices such as musical instruments, warning bells, cell phones, car horns, and creaky hinges.

The mockingbird is known to many homeowners by its (some would describe obnoxious) habitat of singing on moonlit spring nights. These songsters usually unmated males, but in well-lit areas, even mated males may sing at night.

The Northern Mockingbird is very territorial and will dive and attack intruders, including homeowners and their pets, and may even attack its own reflection in a window!

The Northern Mockingbird is a year round resident across most of the continental United States to southern Mexico and the Caribbean. Although populations have recently declined in the southern part of its range, mockingbirds have expanded northward during the past century, especially in suburbs with berry producing ornamental shrubs.

Description: This medium-sized songbird is gray above and white below. The darker wings have 2 white wingbars, and the white patches in the wings are conspicuous in flight. The tail is long with white outer tail feathers and is often held in a cocked position. Males and females look alike.

Length: 10"
Wingspan: 14"
Weight: 1.7 oz

Voice: Each individual mockingbird has a unique mix of original and imitated phrases that are repeated three or more times. The call note is an abrasive check. Both male and female sing in fall to claim feeding territories.

Similar Species:

Loggerhead Shrikes have black wings with less white, a black mask, and fly with wingbeats too fast to count.
Gray Catbirds are darker gray all over, without white in the wings and tail.
Blue-gray Gnatcatchers are similar in color, but are significantly smaller, lack much white in wing, and have a white eye-ring.
Habitat: Northern Mockingbirds are found in areas with open ground and shrubby vegetation such as in parkland, cultivated land, and suburbs. They are especially fond of invasive multiflora rose thickets.

Diet: Ants, beetles, grasshoppers, seeds and berries.

[Phyl]

Northern Mockingbird,, continued

Nesting and reproduction: Some adults may spend the entire year as a pair on a single territory, while others establish distinct breeding and wintering territories. In Tennessee the breeding season extends from late March into August with pairs producing as many as 4 broods in one season.

Clutch Size: Normally 3 to 5 eggs.

Incubation: Females alone incubate the eggs for 12 to 13 days.

Fledging: Both adults feed the young, which fledge in about 12 days.

Nest: The male and female build the open cup-nest of dead twigs lined with grasses, rootlets, and dead leaves. It is placed low in dense shrubs, deciduous trees, and small evergreens. Nest heights in Tennessee have been reported from ground level to 52 feet high, but most are below 7 feet.

Status in Tennessee: The Northern Mockingbird is still a common permanent resident across the state though it has been declining for several decades. The reasons for the decline are not known, but the maturing forests and a trend toward "cleaner" farms with fewer fencerows in the state may be a contributing factor.

Map of Northern Mockingbird eBird observations in Tennessee


Fun Facts:

The Northern Mockingbird was named the official state bird of Tennessee in 1933.
Nestling mockingbirds banded in Nashville have been recaptured 200 miles away!
Like the Gray Catbird, mockingbirds are able to differentiate Brown-headed Cowbirds eggs from their own. Mockingbirds will eject cowbird eggs from the nest, preventing decreased nesting success caused by this nest parasite.
A male's song repertoire may contain as many as 200 distinct song types. These songs may change during his adult life and increase in number with age. Songs are acquired through imitating the calls and songs of other birds, the vocalizations of non-avian species, mechanical sounds, and the sounds of other mockingbirds.
The Northern Mockingbird typically sings throughout most of the year: from February through August and again from September through early November. A male may have two distinct repertoires of songs: one for spring and another for fall. One study found only a one percent overlap in song types used in spring and fall.
The female Northern Mockingbird sings too, although usually more quietly than the male. She rarely sings in the summer, usually only when the male is away from the territory. She sings more in the fall perhaps to establish a winter territory.
The Northern Mockingbird frequently gives a "wing flash" display, where it opens its wings in a jerky fashion. It has been suggested that they do this to startle insects and make them easier to catch.
The oldest known Northern Mockingbird in the wild was 14 years 10 months old.
Obsolete English Names: mockingbird

[Phyl]

Northern Mockingbird,, continued

Best places to see in Tennessee: Most easily seen in suburban areas across the state, anywhere with dense berry-producing shrubs.







Sources:

Derrickson, K. C. and R. Breitwisch. 1992. Northern Mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos), The Birds of North America (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, PA, and The American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C.

Nicholson, C. P. 1997. Atlas of Breeding Birds of Tennessee. Univ. Tennessee Press, Knoxville.

Sibley, D. A. 2000. The Sibley Guide to Birds. A. A. Knopf, New York, NY.

[Phyl]

Brown Thrasher,
Toxostoma rufum



While not quite as good a mimic as the Northern Mockingbird, the Brown Thrasher sings a remarkably varied array of phrases that it usually repeats 2 or 3 times.

The male will sing from a high exposed perch starting in March, and as the breeding season progresses, the song rate decreases until the male virtually stops singing by July.  The Brown Thrasher breeds across the eastern United States and southern Canada, and it spends the winter in the southeastern states. It is a year round resident in Tennessee.

Description: This large, long-tailed songbird is bright reddish-brown above with buffy-white underparts that are streaked with black. It has a long slightly down-curved black bill, and 2 whitish wingbars. The sexes look alike.

Length: 11.5"
Wingspan: 13"
Weight: 2.4 oz

Voice: The song is a series of musical phrases, usually repeated two and sometimes three times. The call is a bold smack. Brown Thrashers seldom mimic other birds. The male often sings from a high exposed perch.

Similar Species:

Wood Thrushes are similar in color, but have round spots on breast, not streaks, a shorter tail, and no wingbars.
Habitat: Found in a variety of shrubby habitats including hedgerows, shrubby thickets, open cedar forests, roadsides, and woodland edges. Often close to human habitation.

Diet: Mainly insects (especially beetles) during the breeding season and fruits and nuts in fall and winter.

Nesting and reproduction: Brown Thrashers often raise 2 broods in Tennessee. Young fledge relatively quickly for a passerine of this size, sometimes leaving the nest fully feathered in 9 days. This is likely an adaptation to reduce nest predation, which is common in shrub-nesting species.

Clutch Size: 4 to 5 eggs with a range of 2 to 6.

Incubation: Both sexes incubate the eggs for 11 to 14 days.

Fledging: Both parents feed the young, which fledge in 9 to 13 days.

Nest: Both adults build the bulky cup-nest of twigs and leaves and line it with rootlets. Nests are placed in thick shrubbery, vines, a small tree, or occasionally on the ground. Nest heights average 5 feet above the ground in Tennessee and range from on the ground (rare) to 12 feet.

[Phyl]

Brown Thrasher,, continued

Status in Tennessee: This statewide resident is fairly common in summer and uncommon in winter. Numbers have been declining in Tennessee since the 1960s possibly due to maturing forests and the habit of "cleaning" fencerows in agricultural areas.

Map of Brown Thrasher eBird observations in Tennessee


Fun Facts:

An aggressive defender of its nest, the Brown Thrasher has been known to (although rarely) strike people and dogs hard enough to draw blood.
Brown Thrashers have long, heavy legs characteristic of a ground foraging bird. They spend considerable time using their long, slightly curved bill to sweep the leaf litter uncovering insects, fallen seeds, and berries.
The oldest known Brown Thrasher in the wild was 11 years 11 months old.
Obsolete English Names: brown thrush

Best places to see in Tennessee: While Brown Thrashers are found across the state, they are most conspicuous when singing from exposed perches in early spring.

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Brown Thrasher,, continued








Sources:

Cavitt, J. F. and C. A. Haas. 2000. Brown Thrasher (Toxostoma rufum), The Birds of North America (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, PA, and The American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C.

Nicholson, C. P. 1997. Atlas of Breeding Birds of Tennessee. Univ. Tennessee Press, Knoxville.

Sibley, D. A. 2000. The Sibley Guide to Birds. A. A. Knopf, New York, NY.

[Phyl]

European Starling,
 Sturnus vulgaris




There are over 200 million European Starlings in North America today.  They are all descendants of the 100 birds released in New York's Central Park in the early 1890s by a group dedicated to introducing all of the birds mentioned in Shakespeare's plays into America.

The play that featured the starling was Henry IV: "Nay, I'll have a starling shall be taught to speak nothing but 'Mortimer'..." Starlings are very good mimics and were a popular cage bird in Europe.

They first appeared in Tennessee in 1921, and by 1970 they had spread to upper Alaska.  European Starlings now breed across all of North America and only the Canadian birds migrate south in winter.

Starlings became established so easily because they are habitat generalists able to exploit a large variety of habitats, nest sites, and food sources.

They will eat almost anything from French fries to an array of invertebrates, small vertebrates, fruits, and seeds. While they do eat some insects that are harmful to crops, starlings are thought to do more harm than good. They steal grain, ravage crops, and out-compete native birds for winter fruits.

Regardless of how loud and obnoxious the huge winter flocks can be, their aerial displays performed before roosting are beautiful and impressive.

Description: This stocky, Blackbird has a short square-tipped tail, a long pointed bill, and walks rather than hops. In flight, the wings are short and pointed.

The feathers are glossy black tipped in white in winter giving the bird a speckled appearance.

These white feather tips wear off by spring leaving a shimmering green-and-purple glossy plumage. The bill is dark in winter and yellow in spring. The male and female look the same; the juvenile (May-August) is a drab gray-brown all over.

In the fall molting, juveniles may have patches of gray and black.

Length: 8.5"
Wingspan: 16"
Weight: 2.7 oz

Voice: The song is a variety of trills, whistles, chatters, and twitters. The European Starling is known to mimic other birds including Eastern Meadowlark, Brown-headed Cowbird, and Eastern Wood-Pewee. They give a variety of calls including a sliding wolf-whistle. Females also sing, but mostly in the fall.

Similar Species:

Blackbirds have slimmer bodies, longer tails, and shorter, thicker bills. No blackbird has a yellow bill.
Juvenile and female Brown-headed Cowbirds are similar in color to juvenile starlings, but cowbirds have a longer tail, a slimmer body, and a much stouter and shorter bill.

Habitat: Found in a variety of habitats especially near people in agricultural and urban areas.

Diet: Broad diet of many kinds of invertebrates, small vertebrates, fruits, grains, seeds, and garbage.

Nesting and reproduction: European Starlings are cavity nesters and may negatively impact several native birds including woodpeckers,

Great Crested Flycatchers, Tree Swallows, Eastern Bluebirds, and Purple Martins by competing with them for nest sites (see fun facts below).

Starlings in Tennessee appear to only occasionally produce a second brood.

Clutch Size: 3 to 7 eggs with 4 to 5 eggs most common.

Incubation: Both adults incubate the eggs for 12 days.

Fledging: Both adults feed the chicks, which fledge in 21 to 23 days. Unlike many birds, the fledglings are fully feathered and fly well when they leave the nest. They are independent of the adults in three to four days and form flocks with other juveniles.

Nest: Inside the cavity, adults build a nest of grass, fresh green vegetation, or pine needles and may also include feathers, paper, plastic, and string. Nests can be located 2 to 60 feet above the ground, but an average of 10 to 25 feet.