Gray-cheeked Thrush

Catharus minimusOrder: PASSERIFORMES Family: Thrushes (Turdidae)

Codes: Common Name: GCTH Scientific Name: CATMIN ITIS Taxonomic No.: 179793

Breeding Location:

Forests, coniferous

Breeding Type:

Monogamous, Solitary nester

Breeding Population:

Egg Color:

Green blue to pale blue with brown specks

Number of Eggs:

3 - 6

Incubation Days:

13 - 14

Egg Incubator:

Female

Nest Material:

Grass, sedge, bark, weed stems, twigs, moss., Lined with grass, leaves and fine rootlets.

Migration:

Migratory

General

Gray-cheeked Thrush: Small thrush (minimus), with olive-brown upperparts, buff-brown breast with brown spots, and white or buff belly. Gray eye-ring is indistinct. Upper mandible is black with pale base, while lower mandible is yellow with black tip. Tail and rump have rust-brown wash. Sexes are similar. Difficult to distinguish from Bicknell’s Thrush.

Range and Habitat

Gray-cheeked Thrush: Breeds from northern Alaska across northern Canada to Newfoundland, south to northern British Columbia, northern Ontario, and central Quebec. Spends winters in Central and South America. Preferred habitats include coniferous forests (primarily spruce), tall shrubby areas in taiga, deciduous forests, and open woodlands.

Breeding and Nesting

Gray-cheeked Thrush: Three to six green blue to pale blue eggs, with brown specks, are laid in a nest made of grass, sedges, bark, weed stems, twigs, and moss, lined with grass, leaves, and fine rootlets, and built on low branch of a tree or shrub, up to 10 feet above the ground. Incubation ranges from 13 to 14 days and is carried out by the female.

Foraging and Feeding

Gray-cheeked Thrush: Eats mostly insects such as beetles, ants, wasps, and caterpillars; also feeds on spiders, crayfish, sow bugs, earthworms, grapes, wild cherries, blackberries, and raspberries. Usually forages on the ground.

Readily Eats

Raisins, Currants, Nut Meal

Vocalization

Gray-cheeked Thrush: Call is a thin, high, abrasive "phreu." Song is a series of thin reedy notes inflected downward at the end "wheeoo-titi-wheeoo."

Similar Species

Gray-cheeked Thrush: Swainson's Thrush has buff face and eye-ring. Bicknell's Thrush is smaller, has warmer brown tones on upperparts, and more yellow on lower mandible. Veery has duller spots on underparts and is usually more red-brown. Hermit Thrush has distinct rufous on tail and wings and an eye-ring.

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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.

Gray-cheeked Thrush

● Song: "wheeoo-titi-wheeoo", "phreu"

● Foraging & Feeding: Gray-cheeked Thrush: Eats mostly insects such as beetles, ants, wasps, and caterpillars; also feeds on spiders, crayfish, sow bugs, earthworms, grapes, wild cherries, blackberries, and raspberries. Usually forages on the ground.

● Breeding & nesting: Gray-cheeked Thrush: Three to six green blue to pale blue eggs, with brown specks, are laid in a nest made of grass, sedges, bark, weed stems, twigs, and moss, lined with grass, leaves, and fine rootlets, and built on low branch of a tree or shrub, up to 10 feet above the ground. Incubation ranges from 13 to 14 days and is carried out by the female.

● Similar species: Gray-cheeked Thrush: Swainson's Thrush has buff face and eye-ring. Bicknell's Thrush is smaller, has warmer brown tones on upperparts, and more yellow on lower mandible. Veery has duller spots on underparts and is usually more red-brown. Hermit Thrush has distinct rufous on tail and wings and an eye-ring.

Flight Pattern

Relatively swift direct flight with somewhat jerky wing strokes.

Gray-cheeked Thrush (minimus) Breeding Male Body Illustration

● Range & Habitat: Gray-cheeked Thrush: Breeds from northern Alaska across northern Canada to Newfoundland, south to northern British Columbia, northern Ontario, and central Quebec. Spends winters in Central and South America. Preferred habitats include coniferous forests (primarily spruce), tall shrubby areas in taiga, deciduous forests, and open woodlands.

^BreedingMonogamous, Solitary nester

^Population

^MigrationMigratory

^Weight1.2 Ounces

Upperparts

Back, rump, hindneck, wings, and crown.

Belly

The ventral part of the bird, or the area between the flanks on each side and the crissum and breast. Flight muscles are located between the belly and the breast.

Breast

The upper front part of a bird.

Lower mandible

The lower part of the bill.

Rump

The area between the uppertail coverts and the back of the bird.

Upper mandible

The upper part of the bill.

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