Varied Thrush

Ixoreus naevius

With the late winter surprise snow, many noticed visits from Varied Thrush at their feeder and backyards. This is because while Varied Thrush breed in humid forests, they move into denser areas in the winter such as parks, gardens and backyards. The biggest guess as to why we see them so much more when there is snow is simply that they stand out more against the snow. Another reason is that people tend to put out more seed when it’s snowing, and that brings them in from the tree understory to enjoy a meal.

Sometimes confused with juvenile American Robins, Varied Thush sport large, rounded heads, straight bills, and long legs, plump bellies and a relatively short tail. Their coloring is what catches the eye, males have dark blue-gray backs and rich burnt-orange underside with a sooty-black breastband and orange line over the eye. The wings are blackish with two orange bars and orange edging to the flight feathers. Females have the same patterns, but are paler gray-brown than males.

Varied Thrush are most often seen hopping around on the ground, as their favorite foods consist of insects and other arthropods in the summer and nuts and berries in the winter. Planting native fruiting shrubs is also a good way to attract them to your yard. Even though it is exciting to bring them to your yard with feeders, males can be territorial and are often aggressive toward each other and other bird species. At feeders, males sometimes defend small feeding territories, where they dominate sparrows, blackbirds, cowbirds, towhees and juncos. They usually defer to California Quails, Northern Flickers, Western Scrub-Jays, and American Robins. The only time Varied Thrushes flock with other species is when they occasionally forage for berries or earthworms on lawns with American Robins (leading to the confusion).

Another way to attract varied thrushes is to offer millet seed by the edge of the forest. Millet works well, as it’s not attractive to rodents or subject to mildew. It’s also inexpensive and sold at local wild bird shops. Millet scattered in appropriate habitat will also attract an assortment of other species, including mourning doves and various sparrows. Seed should not be spread in open areas where there is no close cover in which to escape a predator. The easiest way to protect varied thrushes and the scores of other ground-feeding birds is to keep cats indoors. When a predator, such as a barred owl, invades their territory, all the varied thrushes in the area will surround the perceived threat while sending out a series of clicking sounds. These alarm calls show the uninvited visitor that it is not welcome. The band will disperse once the danger has passed.

Did you know? Louis Agassiz Fuertes, a twentieth-century bird artist and friend of Cornell Lab founder Arthur Allen, described the Varied Thrush’s simple, contemplative song “as perfectly the voice of the cool, dark peaceful solitude which the bird chooses for its home as could be imagined.”

-Samantha Zeiner, Administrative Assistant