Field Guide to Birds of North America
Gray-cheeked Thrush
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.
Listen to Call
Voice Text
"wheeoo-titi-wheeoo", "phreu"
Interesting Facts
Gray-cheeked and Bicknell's thrushes were only recently recognized as separate species. Most of the information published in the last century on "Gray-cheeked Thrush" concerned the Bicknell's Thrush instead of the Gray-cheeked.
It is all but indistinguishable from Bicknell's Thrush except by its slightly larger size and different song.
A reticent bird, it keeps mostly under cover, searching for food on the ground.
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 minimus
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Length6.5 - 8
Inches
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Wingspan12.5
Inches
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Gray-cheeked Thrush
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.
● 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.
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BreedingMonogamous, Solitary nester
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Population
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MigrationMigratory
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Weight1.2
Ounces
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