Gray-cheeked Thrush

Gray-cheeked Thrush

Catharus minimus

Zorzal Carigrφs,
Zorzal Migratorio

Photo: G. Beaton

IDENTIFICATION: Gray above with rufous-tinged wing feathers and tail. The underparts are white with black breast spots. Length: 16-17 cm.; weight: 26-30 g. Taxonomists recently split the Gray-cheeked Thrush from the much rarer Bicknell's Thrush (Catharus bicknelli). The Gray-cheeked Thrush is slightly larger, has less yellow on the lower bill, and has a grayer, less rufous tail and back.

VOICE: A melodious whistled song, not heard on migration; call note is a sharp "pheu".

HABITAT: Understory and forest floor in dry and wet forests, wetlands and coastal areas.

HABITS: Feeds on berries, insects and spiders. In North America the female builds a bulky nest on the ground or in lower branches of a tree. She does the incubation of the 3-5 eggs for 13-14 days. Both sexes feed the young on an insect diet. Young fledge at about 11-13 days after hatching.

STATUS AND CONSERVATION: Rare during migration in Puerto Rico, but common on its breeding grounds in southern Canada and the northern USA. It migrates over water from the Maritime provinces of Canada to South America, but a few inidividuals occasionally stop off in Puerto Rico.

RANGE: Breeds in boreal forests from Alaska to Hudson Bay and east to Labrador. The Gray-cheeked Thrush winters in northern South America.

TAXONOMY: PASSERIFORMES; TURDIDAE

References

Arendt, W.J. 1992. Status of North American migrant landbirds in the Caribbean region: a summary. Pp. 143-171 in Ecology and conservation of neotropical migrant landbirds (J.M. Hagan III and D.W. Johnston, eds.) Smithsonian Instit. Press, Washington, D.C.

Bent, A.C. 1949. Life histories of North American thrushes, kinglets, and their allies. Smithsonian Instit. U.S. National Museum Bull. 196. (Reprinted by Dover Press, NY, 1964).

Clement, P. 2001. Thrushes. Princeton University Press.

Lane, D. and A. Jaramillo. 2000. Identification of Hylocichla/Catharus thrushes: Part 1: Molt and aging of spotted thrushes and field ID of Wood Thrush and Hermit Thrush. 32:120-135.

Lane, D. and A. Jaramillo. 2000. Identification of Hylocichla/Catharus thrushes: Part III: Gray-cheeked and Bicknell's Thrushes. 32:318-331; with commentary, 2001. Birding 33(1):12-13.

Lowther, P. E., C. C. Rimmer, B. Kessel, S. L. Johnson, and W. G. Ellison. 2001. Gray-cheeked Thrush (Catharus minimus). No. 591 in The birds of North America (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Birds of North America, Inc., Philadelphia, PA.

Marshall, J. T. 2001. The Gray-cheeked Thrush Catharus minimus, and its New England subpecies, Bicknell's Thrush, Catharus minimus bicknelli. Nuttall Ornith. Club, Cambridge, MA.

McLaren, I. 1995. Field identification and taxonomy of Bicknell's Thrush. Birding 27(5):358-366. Corrigenda: 1996. Birding 28(1):16.

Raffaele, H.A. 1989. A guide to the birds of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Princeton.

Raffaele, H.A. 1989. Una guía a las aves de Puerto Rico y las Islas Vírgenes. Publishing Resources, Inc., Santurce, PR.

Raffaele, H.A., J.W. Wiley, O.H. Garrido, A.R. Keith, and J.I. Raffaele. 1998. Guide to the birds of the West Indies. Princeton.

Gray-cheeked Thrush, Spanish text

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