Wood thrush
| Wood thrush | ||||||||||||
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Wood Thrush ( Hylocichla mustelina ) |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name of the genus | ||||||||||||
| Hylocichla | ||||||||||||
| SF Baird , 1864 | ||||||||||||
| Scientific name of the species | ||||||||||||
| Hylocichla mustelina | ||||||||||||
| ( Gmelin , 1789) |
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The forest throttle ( Hylocichla must Elina ) is a species from the family of the chokes (Turdidae), which in North and Central America found. It is the only species in the monotypic genus Hylocichla .
description
Appearance
Adult forest thrushes reach a length of 18 to 21.5 centimeters and a weight of 40 to 72 grams. There is no sexual dimorphism between the sexes . The top of the head and neck are reddish-brown in color, the cheeks are dotted with black, the eye ring is white. The back and the wing feathers are ocher brown to medium brown. The whitish to beige-colored underside is patterned with many black-brown spots in the chest area. The control feathers are dark brown, the feet pink.
Vocalizations
The singing of the male of the forest thrush takes place preferably from a free branch high up in a tree and can be heard predominantly at dusk and early in the morning. It consists of a melodic string of trills and flute tones, which are usually sung at short intervals. Sometimes shrill single tones (like a machine gun ) can be heard, which mostly serve as an alarm call.
distribution and habitat
The habitat of the wood thrush during the breeding season extends from southeast Canada to the south through the central and eastern US states . It prefers to live in deciduous and mixed forests rich in bushes. Wintering takes place in Central America . There humid to semi-humid evergreen forests as well as mixed palm forests or banana plantations up to a height of 1700 meters are chosen as habitat. To reach the winter quarters, 83% of the northeastern populations migrate to Central America via Florida and Cuba .
Way of life
The birds mostly stay on the ground, where they also look for food. In summer this consists primarily of insects as well as seeds and berries . Investigations of the stomach contents during the months of May to July showed a proportion of 62% animal and 38% vegetable food.
The brood extends over a period from early May to late August. Usually two broods are carried out, three broods are rare. The birds are usually monogamous , with the pair bonding lasting for one season. The cup-shaped nest is made from dried up grass and leaves and covered with a thin layer of mud. It is laid out in bushes or in the forks of trees at a maximum height of six meters. Usually three to four eggs, which are turquoise-green in color, are laid. These are hatched in a period of 11 to 14 days. After 12 to 15 days, the nestlings fly out and their parents continue to care for them for a maximum of three weeks.
In some regions a large part of the brood is destroyed by the parasitic brown-headed cowbird ( Molothrus ater ). Further losses of eggs or nestlings are caused by nest predators such as snakes, corvids, or carnivorous mammals, including the black bear ( Ursus americanus ). The southern flying squirrel ( Glaucomys volans ) also causes considerable losses.
Hazard and protection
The wood thrush is not threatened globally, but since it is in a sustained, moderately rapid decline in many of its distribution areas, it has been classified as 
" Near Threatened " by the IUCN since 2014 . It is protected by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act .
swell
literature
- Josep del Hoyo , Andrew Elliott, David A. Christie: Handbook of the Birds of the World. Volume 10: Cuckoo-shrikes to Thrushes. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona 2005, ISBN 978-84-87334-72-6 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Richard Crossly: The Crossly ID Guide. Princeton University Press, 2011, ISBN 978-0-691-14778-9 , p. 366
- ^ IUCN Red List
Web links
- Wood thrush (Hylocichla mustelina) in the Encyclopedia of Life . Retrieved August 11, 2017.
- arkive.org/wood-thrush photos