Wood Thrush Sounds

Overview
ID info
Life History
Maps
Sounds

Song
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Maryland, July 02, 2020Recorded by Wil Hershberger / Macaulay Library
Song
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New York, June 14, 2015Recorded by Matthew D. Medler / Macaulay Library
Song
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New York, June 25, 2017Recorded by Jay McGowan / Macaulay Library
Calls
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West Virginia, July 10, 2020Recorded by Wil Hershberger / Macaulay Library
Calls
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New York, May 12, 2020Recorded by Glenn Seeholzer / Macaulay Library
Flight calls
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New York, May 11, 2017Recorded by Jay McGowan / Macaulay Library
Alarm calls
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New York, July 13, 2016Recorded by Jay McGowan / Macaulay Library

Sounds provided by Macaulay Library.
Listen to more sounds of this species from the ML archive.

Songs

The Wood Thrush's easily recognized, flute-like ee-oh-lay is actually only the middle phrase of a three-part song. It learns the phrase from other Wood Thrushes and sings several variants with 2 to 10 loud, clear notes. Combining those with 1–3 variants of the low, soft notes of the introductory phrase and 6–12 variants of the final higher-pitched complex trill, a male can easily sing over 50 distinct songs. Individuals can be identified by the repeating order they sing their variants of the middle phrase in song after song.

Calls

A staccato bup-bup-bup call signals mild distress, but rises in pitch and grows louder and more complex with increasing agitation until it becomes a distinctive, machine-gun-like pit-pit-pit alarm. This call accompanies territory or nest defense. The male sometimes chatters a pit-pit call during nest building, when it may be part of mate guarding.