There is little information on predation but they probably are subject to the usual songbird nest predators (snakes, crows, jays, raccoons). Body parasites found on or in adult hermit thrushes include lice, louse flies, mites, spirochetes and ticks.
Known Predators:
The name Catharus derives from the Greek word katharos or "pure" referring to its song. The name guttatus comes from gutata or "spotted", for its spotted breast.
Perception Channels: visual ; tactile ; acoustic ; chemical
Breeding Bird Surveys indicate that hermit thrush populations have increased over extensive parts of their range.
US Migratory Bird Act: protected
US Federal List: no special status
CITES: no special status
State of Michigan List: no special status
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: least concern
There are no known adverse effects of Hermit Thrushes on humans.
Commensal/Parasitic Species:
Hermit thrushes are omnivores that eats insects, small invertebrates, and fruits from trees, shrubs, and herbaceous plants. They forage on both the ground and in vegetation, and may move leaf litter with their bills to look for food, glean from leaves while perched or after hovering, or probe into ground or dead wood. The proportion of animal and vegetable content in the diet of Hermit Thrushes varies with availability. Generally, hermit thrushes consume more animal matter during the spring and summer, and more vegetable matter (especially berries) in the fall and winter.
Foods commonly eaten include: beetles, bees, ants, wasps, flies, true bugs, other small invertebrates, small amphibians and reptiles, and fruits.
Animal Foods: amphibians; reptiles; insects; terrestrial non-insect arthropods; terrestrial worms
Plant Foods: fruit
Primary Diet: omnivore
Hermit thrushes (Catharus guttatus) are widely distributed songbirds found in northern hardwood forests and boreal and mountainous coniferous forests throughout North America during the breeding season, and both North America and Central America during the winter. In North America, they breed in the western and northeastern United States into Alaska and much of the southern half of Canada. The winter northern boundary is in the United States from southern Massachusetts moving gradually southwest to the southern parts of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Arkansas, most of Oklahoma and Texas. Their winter range then encompasses all of the area below this to the Gulf of Mexico and then south through Mexico to Oaxaca. They are found year round in much of New Mexico and in the eastern half of Arizona. Within these broad ranges individuals are short-distance migrants. They do not cross the Gulf of Mexico as other Catharus species do. They are found in lower altitudes, river valleys and coastal areas in these wintering areas.
There are currently 8 recognized subspecies of hermit thrushes divided into 3 geographic groups including 3 subspecies in the Pacific coastal group, 3 subspecies in the northwestern interior mountains group, and 2 subspecies in the eastern group.
Biogeographic Regions: nearctic (Native ); neotropical (Native )
Hermit thrushes use a wide range of forest vegetation types. Breeding habitat includes young to climax forest vegetation types with internal forest edges. These birds are found in the interior of such forest vegetation types near openings including ponds, meadows, or small man-made clearings.
During winter in the United States, hermit thrushes are usually found at lower elevations than that of their summer habitat. Characteristics of winter habitat include a dense cover of woody plants proximate to insect populations and berry-bearing vegetation. Hermit thrushes need open water in their winter habitat. Information on habitat in Mexico is limited, and no generalizations can be made.
Habitat Regions: temperate ; terrestrial
Terrestrial Biomes: forest ; scrub forest
A banded hermit thrush lived at least 8 years and 8 months. Other thrushes have been known to live 10 to 13 years.
Range lifespan
Status: wild: 8.55 (high) years.
Average lifespan
Status: wild: 112 months.
Hermit thrushes are shorter and stockier than other spotted thrushes, with an average length of 6.75 in (17.2 cm) and wingspan of 11.5 in (29.2 cm). The three main geographic groups have graded characteristics, with a distinct white eye-ring, indistinct whitish bar over the lores, darkly spotted breast and sides of the throat, olive-brown to gray-brown dorsal coloration, white ventral side with buffy to grayish flanks, and varying amount of reddish wash on flight feathers and tail. There is no obvious sexual dimorphism in this thrush species.
Hermit thrushes have reddish coloration on the tail, whereas wood thrushes (Hylocichla mustelina) have similar coloration on the head and veery (Catharus fuscescens) have reddish upper parts. Gray-cheeked (Catharus minimus) and Bicknell's (Catharus bicknelli) thrushes also have some reddish coloration, but they only have a thin partial eye-ring and do not have the whitish bar over the lores. Because hermit thrushes are short-distance migrants, their primary flight feathers do not project beyond their secondaries. Other thrushes that migrate over longer distances have longer primary projections, including the Swainson's thrush (Catharus ustulatus) and grey-cheeked thrush (Catharus minimus).
Average length: 17.2 cm.
Average wingspan: 29.2 cm.
Other Physical Features: endothermic ; homoiothermic; bilateral symmetry
Sexual Dimorphism: sexes alike
Average mass: 27.8 g.
Males establish and defend breeding territories in late April to late May. Once a female is accepted into a male's territory, she begins building a nest. The open-cup nest is 10 to 15 cm in diameter and consists of a variety of vegetable material including grass, leaves, mosses, and lichens. Nest location is variable. In the eastern United States nests found on the ground beneath live woody and non-woody plants and in open areas, and in the western United States nests were commonly located above the ground. Females lay 3 to 6 eggs beginning in Late May, and may lay 2nd or 3rd brood as late as August. Egg color ranges from very pale blue to blue-green with few brown flecks. Females begin incubating after final egg is laid, and this period lasts around 12 days. The male feeds the female during incubation.
A hatching bird "pips" the egg, breaks its shell into 2 parts near the egg's greatest diameter. The female removes eggshells from the nest after young hatch. Young are altricial at hatching and have minimal dark grayish down on crown and dorsal feather tracts. The female feeds nestlings with food brought to the nest by the male. Nestling eyes are open by the 3rd day after hatching; full juvenile plumage develops by 10 to 12 days after hatching. Nestlings fledge 10 to 15 days after hatching by leaping from the nest towards a parent on the ground. No information on development from fledging through immature stages is available.
Brood parasitism by the brown-headed cowbird is common, but little is known on how this affects populations of the Hermit Thrush. Recruitment may be limited by nest predation, but little information is available. Studies estimating the probability of fledging at least 1 nestling varied from 17% in Arizona to 37% East of the Rocky Mountains. There is no evidence of cooperative breeding in hermit thrushes.
Breeding interval: These birds once per year, in the spring and summer.
Breeding season: May through August
Range eggs per season: 3 to 6.
Average time to hatching: 12 days.
Range fledging age: 10 to 15 days.
Key Reproductive Features: iteroparous ; seasonal breeding ; gonochoric/gonochoristic/dioecious (sexes separate); sexual ; fertilization (External ); oviparous
Average time to hatching: 12 days.
Average eggs per season: 3.
Females incubate and deliver food to the nestlings. Males bring food to the nest.
Parental Investment: altricial ; pre-fertilization (Provisioning); pre-hatching/birth (Provisioning: Female, Protecting: Male, Female); pre-weaning/fledging (Provisioning: Male, Female, Protecting: Male, Female); pre-independence (Provisioning: Male, Female, Protecting: Male, Female)
Small and brownish like several other species of North American thrush, the Hermit Thrush (7 inches) is most easily separated from its relatives by its reddish tail. Other field marks include a black-spotted breast, pink legs, and dark eyes with thin white eye-rings. Male and female Hermit Thrushes are alike in all seasons. The Hermit Thrush breeds widely across southern Canada, Alaska, and the northern United States. This species also breeds at higher elevations in the Rocky Mountains south to Arizona and New Mexico as well as in the Appalachian Mountains south to North Carolina. The Hermit Thrush is the only small New World thrush to winter in North America, spending the winter months along the coast from Washington to California, in southern Arizona, and from the southeastern U.S. south to Mexico and Central America. Hermit Thrushes breed in numerous types of forest habitats, whether deciduous, evergreen, or a mixture of both. Populations wintering in the U.S. utilize similar habitat types as in summer, and those wintering in the tropics tend to be found at higher altitudes where the prevailing climate is similar to areas further north. Hermit Thrushes eat mainly insects during the summer, and add fruits and berries to their diet during the winter when insects are scarce. At all seasons, Hermit Thrushes may be observed foraging food while hopping along the forest floor or through the branches of trees. However, in deciduous woodlands, the Hermit Thrush is often most easily seen in winter, when the trees are bare. This species is most active during the day, but, like many migratory songbirds, this species migrates at night.
Small and brownish like several other species of North American thrush, the Hermit Thrush (7 inches) is most easily separated from its relatives by its reddish tail. Other field marks include a black-spotted breast, pink legs, and dark eyes with thin white eye-rings. Male and female Hermit Thrushes are alike in all seasons. The Hermit Thrush breeds widely across southern Canada, Alaska, and the northern United States. This species also breeds at higher elevations in the Rocky Mountains south to Arizona and New Mexico as well as in the Appalachian Mountains south to North Carolina. The Hermit Thrush is the only small New World thrush to winter in North America, spending the winter months along the coast from Washington to California, in southern Arizona, and from the southeastern U.S. south to Mexico and Central America. Hermit Thrushes breed in numerous types of forest habitats, whether deciduous, evergreen, or a mixture of both. Populations wintering in the U.S. utilize similar habitat types as in summer, and those wintering in the tropics tend to be found at higher altitudes where the prevailing climate is similar to areas further north. Hermit Thrushes eat mainly insects during the summer, and add fruits and berries to their diet during the winter when insects are scarce. At all seasons, Hermit Thrushes may be observed foraging food while hopping along the forest floor or through the branches of trees. However, in deciduous woodlands, the Hermit Thrush is often most easily seen in winter, when the trees are bare. This species is most active during the day, but, like many migratory songbirds, this species migrates at night.
The hermit thrush (Catharus guttatus) is a medium-sized North American thrush. It is not very closely related to the other North American migrant species of Catharus, but rather to the Mexican russet nightingale-thrush.[2] The specific name guttatus is Latin for "spotted".[3]
This species measures 15 to 18 cm (5.9 to 7.1 in) in length, spans 25 to 30 cm (9.8 to 11.8 in) across the wings and weighs 18 to 37 g (0.63 to 1.31 oz). Among standard measurements, the wing chord is 7.8 to 11.1 cm (3.1 to 4.4 in), the bill is 1.6 to 1.9 cm (0.63 to 0.75 in) and the tarsus is 2.7 to 3.3 cm (1.1 to 1.3 in). It is more compact and stockier than other North American Catharus thrushes, with relatively longer wings.[4] The hermit thrush has the white-dark-white underwing pattern characteristic of Catharus thrushes. Adults are mainly brown on the upperparts, with reddish tails. The underparts are white with dark spots on the breast and grey or brownish flanks. They have pink legs and a white eye ring. Birds in the east are more olive-brown on the upperparts; western birds are more grey-brown.
Hermit thrushes breed in coniferous or mixed woods across Canada, southern Alaska, and the northeastern and western United States. They make a cup nest on the ground or relatively low in a tree.
While most hermit thrushes migrate to wintering grounds in the southern United States and south to Central America, some remain in northern coastal US states and southern Ontario.[5] Identification of spotted thrushes is simplified by the fact that hermit thrush is the only spotted thrush normally found in North America during winter.[6] They usually breed in forests, but will sometimes winter in parks and wooded suburban neighborhoods.
They are very rare vagrants to western Europe and northeast Asia.[7]
They forage on the forest floor, also in trees or shrubs, mainly eating insects and berries.
The hermit thrush's song[8] has been described as "the finest sound in nature"[9] and is ethereal and flute-like, consisting of a beginning note, then several descending musical phrases in a minor key, repeated at different pitches. It often sings from a high open location. Analysis of the notes of its song indicates that they are related by harmonic simple integer pitch ratios, like many kinds of human music and unlike the songs of other birds that have been similarly examined.[9][10]
The hermit thrush is the state bird of Vermont.
Walt Whitman construes the hermit thrush as a symbol of the American voice, poetic and otherwise, in his elegy for Abraham Lincoln, "When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd,"[11] one of the fundamental texts in the American literary canon. "A Hermit Thrush"[12] is the name of a poem by the American poet Amy Clampitt. A hermit thrush appears in the fifth section ("What the Thunder Said") of the T. S. Eliot poem The Waste Land.
Former Canadian indie-rock band Thrush Hermit took their name from a reversal of the bird's name. It is also shared by the American bands Hermit Thrushes and Hermit Thrush.
Ocala National Forest, Florida 2008
Hermit thrush singing
The hermit thrush (Catharus guttatus) is a medium-sized North American thrush. It is not very closely related to the other North American migrant species of Catharus, but rather to the Mexican russet nightingale-thrush. The specific name guttatus is Latin for "spotted".