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Wood Thrush Identification

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The Four Keys to ID

  • Size & Shape

    The Wood Thrush's pot-bellied body, short tail, straight bill, big head, and upright posture give it the profile of a scaled-down American Robin.

    Relative Size

    Smaller than an American Robin, larger than a Hermit Thrush.

    Relative Sizebetween sparrow and robinbetween sparrow and robin

    Measurements
    • Both Sexes
      • Length: 7.5-8.3 in (19-21 cm)
      • Weight: 1.4-1.8 oz (40-50 g)
      • Wingspan: 11.8-13.4 in (30-34 cm)

    Shape of the Wood Thrush© Margaret Viens / Macaulay Library
  • Wood Thrushes are warm reddish-brown above and white with bold black spots on their underparts. Juveniles show a somewhat muted version of the same pattern. All have a bold, white eyering.

    Color pattern of the Wood Thrush
    © Andrew Spencer / Macaulay Library
  • The reclusive Wood Thrush hops through leaf litter on the forest floor, probing for insects, bobbing upright between spurts of digging and leaf-turning. The male's clear, flute-like song echoes through the forest in spring and early summer, and both sexes make distinctive, machine-gun-like alarm notes.

  • The Wood Thrush breeds in deciduous and mixed forests in the eastern U.S. where there are large trees, moderate understory, shade, and abundant leaf litter for foraging. They winter in lowland tropical forests in Central America.

    © Charlie Shields / Macaulay Library

Regional Differences

None.