Guide to Boreal Birds
Perching Birds Overview
A reticent bird, Bicknell's Thrush keeps mostly under cover, searching for food on the ground. Summering in northern North America, it migrates to the American tropics for the winter, and may be seen throughout the East while on migration.
Description
7 1/2". Back, head, wings grayish brown; dark brown spots on pale buffy throat and chest; belly white; tail rusty gray; cheeks gray; very thin, pale eye ring. Once considered race of Gray-cheeked Thrush (C. minimus).
Voice
Song: nasal, rising at end: whee-wheeoo-ti-ti-whee. Call: down-slurred whee-ah.
Nesting
3-5 pale blue-green eggs, finely speckled with brown, in a solidly built cup of grass reinforced with mud and placed in a low conifer.
Habitat
Alpine habitats, near tree line.
Range/Migration
Breeds from southern Quebec and the Maritimes south to northern New England and northern New York.