Field Guide to Birds of North America
Veery
General
Veery: Medium-sized thrush with rust-brown upperparts, indistinct pale gray eye-ring, white underparts, and faint rust-brown spots on breast. Dark race has gray-brown upperparts and breast spots. Sexes are similar.
Range and Habitat
Veery: Breeds from southern British Columbia east to Newfoundland and south to Arizona, South Dakota, Minnesota, New Jersey, and in mountains to Georgia. Spends winters in tropics. Inhabits moist deciduous woodlands; prefers willow thickets along streams in the west.
Listen to Call
Voice Text
"veer-u, veer-u, veer-u", "veer"
Interesting Facts
The Veery is the least spotted of all the American spotted thrushes and one of the easiest to identify. It is occasionally called Willow Thrush or Wilson's Thrush.
Long thought to winter across the northern third of South America, a recent study indicated that, in fact, the wintering grounds of the Veery are restricted to central and southern Brazil.
A study of migration using radio telemetry showed that they can fly up to 160 miles in one night, and can fly at altitudes above 1.2 miles.
A group of thrushes are collectively known as a "hermitage" and a "mutation" of thrushes.
Author
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Family
Thrush (Turdidae)_blue
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Species
Catharus fuscescens
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Length7 - 7.5
Inches
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Wingspan11.25
Inches
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Veery
Veery: Medium-sized thrush with rust-brown upperparts, indistinct pale gray eye-ring, white underparts, and faint rust-brown spots on the breast. Dark race has gray-brown upperparts and breast spots. The male sings a lovely, ethereal downward-slurring song at sunset. Shy and retiring.
● Song: "veer-u, veer-u, veer-u", "veer"
● Foraging & Feeding: Veery: Eats insects, spiders, berries, and fruits. Forages on the ground and in trees; swoops from low perch to take prey on the ground, or gleans food from branches, foliage, or the ground.
● Breeding & nesting: Veery: Three to five pale blue eggs are laid in a cup nest made of grass, stems, twigs, and moss, lined with soft bark and dry leaves, and built atop a platform on dry ground sheltered by shrubs, grass, or weeds; nest is sometimes built in a low tree or shrub. Incubation ranges from 10 to 12 days and is carried out by the female.
● Similar species: Veery: Wood Thrush is larger, and has dark spotting on breast, sides, and upper belly. Hermit Thrush has olive-brown upperparts, pale gray underparts spotted with dark brown, and red-brown tail and rump.
Flight Pattern
Relatively swift direct flight with somewhat hesitant motion on rapidly beating wings.
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BreedingMonogamous, Solitary nester
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PopulationFairly common
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MigrationMigratory
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Weight1.1
Ounces
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