How to Identify a Wood Thrush
Updated: Nov. 03, 2022Learn how to identify and attract a wood thrush, what their song sounds like, what these birds eat and where to find them.
Wood Thrush Facts
Scientific Name: Hylocichla mustelina.
Family: Thrush.
Length: 7-3/4 inches.
Wingspan: 13 inches.
Distinctive Markings: Potbellied bird with bright reddish crown and neck, white eye ring and a bold black-spotted breast.
Diet: Insects and a wide range of fruits and berries. Attract them to feeders with fruit or birdseed cakes made with cornmeal, peanut butter and suet.
Learn how to attract robins to your yard or garden.
Nest and Eggs
The nest is built in the crotch of a tree or a shrub and made with grasses and mud; the female lays three or four aqua colored eggs. The brown-headed cowbird is in part to blame for the declining numbers of this species. While some songbirds expel cowbird eggs laid in their nests, the thrush raises the cowbird babies, a practice that endangers the survival of its own.
Learn how to identify the rest of the birds in the thrush family.
Wood Thrush Song
Listen to this bird’s tranquil, peaceful liquid song. It sounds like “Ger-al-deeeeen.”
Bird songs provided by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.
Range Map
Learn where and when to spot these birds!
Range maps provided by Kaufman Field Guides, the official field guide of Birds & Blooms.
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