Bird name:

Townsend's Solitaire

Myadestes townsendi

Order

PASSERIFORMES

Family

Thrushes (Turdidae)

Code 4

TOSO

Code 6

MYATOW

ITIS

179824

Breeding Location:

Forests, coniferous

Breeding Type:

Monogamous, Solitary nester

Breeding Population:

Fairly common, Casual to rare in winter

Egg Color:

Pale blue sometimes flecked with red brown

Number of Eggs:

3 - 8

Incubation Days:

Egg Incubator:

Both sexes

Nest Material:

Lined with fine materials., Grass, moss and roots.

Migration:

Migratory

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General

Townsend's Solitaire: Small thrush, gray overall and slightly darker above. Eye-ring is thin and white. Wings have pale rust-brown patches. Outer tail feathers are white. Sexes are similar. Juvenile has heavy white spotting on upperparts and underparts.

Range and Habitat

Townsend's Solitaire: Breeds in mountains from Alaska to the Northwest Territories, and from British Columbia to South Dakota, California, and central Mexico. Spends winters from southern Canada southward, usually at lower elevations in breeding range. Also ranges eastward to Nebraska. In summer, frequents montane coniferous forests around 3,000 feet below the timberline; in winter, descends to canyons with open juniper forests on lower slopes.

Breeding and Nesting

Townsend's Solitaire: Three to eight pale blue eggs, occasionally flecked with red brown, are laid in a nest made of grass, roots, and moss, lined with fine materials, and built on the ground sheltered by overhanging branches, rocks, or other natural overhangs. Eggs are incubated for 14 days mostly by the female.

Foraging and Feeding

Townsend's Solitaire: Feeds on various insects and worms in summer; winter diet consists principally of juniper berries; forages on the ground.

Readily Eats

Raisins, Currants, Nut Meal

Vocalization

Townsend's Solitaire: Song is a long and complex series of clear warbling notes. Call is a high-pitched, ringing "tew", squeaking "eek", or a melancholic, whistled "whee."

Similar Species

Townsend's Solitaire: Northern Mockingbird is paler gray overall, has two white wing-bars, white wing patch, faint eyestripe and longer bill. Female Mountain Bluebird has shorter tail, blue on wings and tail, and lacks buff in wings.

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Bird Call Credits: The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Martyn Stewart, http://www.naturesound.org, Redmond, Washington USA. The reuse or copying of bird calls in this database is strictly forbidden.

Underparts

Belly, undertail coverts, chest, flanks, and foreneck.

Upperparts

Back, rump, hindneck, wings, and crown.

Outer tail feathers

The tail feathers farthest from the center.

4 and 6 letter alpha codes

The four letter common name alpha code is is derived from the first two letters of the common first name and the first two letters of common last name. The six letter species name alpha code is derived from the first three letters of the scientific name (genus) and the first three letters of the scientific name (species). See (1) below for the rules used to create the codes..

Four-letter (for English common names) and six-letter (for scientific names) species alpha codes were developed by Pyle and DeSante (2003, North American Bird-Bander 28:64-79) to reflect A.O.U. taxonomy and nomenclature (A.O.U. 1998) as modified by Supplements 42 (Auk 117:847-858, 2000) and 43 (Auk 119:897-906, 2002). The list has been updated by Pyle and DeSante to reflect changes reported by the A.O.U from 2003 through 2006.

Field Guide to Birds of North America