Swainson's Thrush

Catharus ustulatus
STANFORD LOCATIONS:

Uncommon migrant, being most abundant in spring. Typically found in areas providing dense low vegetation.
  
Nest
Location
Nest
Type
Eggs
Mating System
Dev.
Parental Care
Primary &
2ndary Diet
Foraging
Strategy
F
I: 12-14 DAYS
ALTRICIAL
CONIF TREE
4 feet - 20 feet
(0 feet - 40 feet)
F
3-4
(3-5)
MONOG
F: 10-13 DAYS
MF
FRUIT
HAWKS
HOVER &
... GLEAN
BREEDING: Woodland, coniferous forest edge (esp where damp), orchards, riparian thickets. ? broods.
DISPLAYS: Agonistic: wing flickering, crest raising, also sleeked erect posture with bill pointed upward.
NEST: In shrubs (usu in w) or low in conifer tree (e); bulky, of weeds, rotten wood, bark, twigs, grass, moss, occ middle layer of mud, lining of skeletonized leaves, plant fibers, fine rootlets, lichen.
EGGS: Pale blue, spotted with browns, occ nearly unmarked. 0.8" (22 mm).
DIET: Includes spiders; berries, esp in winter. Young fed insects, perhaps some fruit. Also gleans from ground.
CONSERVATION: Winters from c Mexico s to Guyana, w Brazil, Peru, Bolivia, n w Argentina, and Paraguay. Rare cowbird host.
NOTES: The least terrestrial of the eastern "ground-dwelling" thrushes. Unlike most N.A. passerines, postbreeding molt is often begun after departure from breeding grounds.
ESSAYS: Decline of Eastern Songbirds; Island Biogeography; Molting; Bathing and Dusting.
REFERENCES: Cherry, 1985; Dilger, 1956a, b; Noon, 1981.

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Except for Stanford Locations, the material in this species treatment is taken, with permission, from The Birder's Handbook (Paul Ehrlich, David Dobkin, & Darryl Wheye, Simon & Schuster, NY. 1988).