Hermit Thrush

Hermit Thrush (Catharus guttatus). Image: James Freitas.

There are birds with beloved songs or calls. Veery (Catharus fuscescens), Carolina Wren (Thryothorus ludovicianus), Yellow Warbler (Setophaga petechia).

Yellow Warbler (Setophaga petechia). Image: James Freitas.

Common Loon (Gavia immer), Common Nightingale (Luscinia megarhynchos), Northern Bobwhite (Colinus virginianus).

The loon gives a “tremolo, a wavering call” when startled or to make itself known. Its famously melancholic wail is given to determine one another’s location.

Some “believe the thrushes,” Turdidae, “have the most beautiful bird songs.” BirdNote names Wood Thrush (Hylocichla mustelina) and Veery (Catharus fuscescens) as favorites. Thoreau called the former “our most accomplished songster.” The latter is named for the “veer” of its song. Then there’s Hermit Thrush (Catharus guttatus)—“often heard before it's seen”: oh, holy holy, ah, purity purity eeh, sweetly sweetly.

Hermit Thrush (Catharus guttatus). Image: James Freitas.

The bird is “Hermit” Thrush because of its “retiring ways.” It’s “most easily detected by its beautiful ethereal song.” I finally got pictures of one. In one of those pictures the bill is slightly open. I love bird pictures with open bills.

A few photos of birds with open bills over the years. Red-eyed Vireo (Vireo olivaceus); American Robin (Turdus migratorius); Pine Warbler (Setophaga pinus); American Oystercatcher (Haematopus palliatus); Gray Catbird (Dumetella carolinensis); Eastern Towhee (Pipilo erythrophthalmus); House Wren (Troglodytes aedon); Black Phoebe (Sayornis nigricans); and the most willing bird to open its bill and sing for photos: Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus). Images: James Freitas.

I wrote about birds I heard but didn’t see in my big year. Among them: Hermit Thrush. Thanksgiving I saw one and got pictures—still in my year. Also a Barred Owl, Downy Woodpeckers, Great Blue Heron, and an evasive Golden-crowned Kinglet.

Barred Owl (Strix varia); Downy Woodpeckers (Dryobates pubescens); Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias); evasive Golden-crowned Kinglet (Regulus satrapa) and an older photo of one that was less evasive. Images: James Freitas.

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I saw the thrush’s silhouette and assumed: American Robin (Turdus migratorius). About the same size. Occam’s Razor: simpler explanations are more likely—Robin over Hermit Thrush. The bird wasn’t the right color, reddish tail. “A contrasting reddish tail” distinguishes a Hermit Thrush, Sibley says. This “bird of dense forest understory” was in plain sight—albeit not facing me.

Hermit Thrush (Catharus guttatus). Image: James Freitas.t

A Hermit Thrush isn’t unheard of, but this was my first time getting pictures. It’d be easy to walk past a Hermit Thrush. Instead I shared space with the American Nightingale.