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
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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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