Hermit Thrush (Crum Woods Biodiversity Guide)

Hermit Thrush

Catharus guttatus

Summary ⁴

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.

Catharus guttatus ⁵

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.

Conservation status ⁶

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

Habitat ⁷

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

Iucn red list assessment ⁸

Red List Category

Least Concern

Red List Criteria

Version

3.1

Year Assessed

2012

Assessor/s

BirdLife International

Reviewer/s

Butchart, S. & Symes, A.

Contributor/s

Justification

This species has an extremely large range, and hence does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the range size criterion (Extent of Occurrence <20,000 km2 combined with a declining or fluctuating range size, habitat extent/quality, or population size and a small number of locations or severe fragmentation). The population trend appears to be increasing, and hence the species does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the population trend criterion (>30% decline over ten years or three generations). The population size is extremely large, and hence does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the population size criterion (<10,000 mature individuals with a continuing decline estimated to be >10% in ten years or three generations, or with a specified population structure). For these reasons the species is evaluated as Least Concern.

History

Least Concern (LC)
Least Concern (LC)
Least Concern (LC)
Lower Risk/least concern (LR/lc)
Lower Risk/least concern (LR/lc)
Lower Risk/least concern (LR/lc)

Sources and Credits

(c) Jamie Chavez, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://www.flickr.com/photos/20709090@N00/2783288252
(c) Alan Vernon, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanvernon/15993387039/
(c) JAMES MAUGHN, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-ND), https://www.flickr.com/photos/jjmaughn/15733437705/
Adapted by Amanda Carrillo-Perez from a work by (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catharus_guttatus
(c) Smithsonian Institution, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/34818412
(c) The Regents of the University of Michigan and its licensors, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/31384004
(c) The Regents of the University of Michigan and its licensors, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/25063946
(c) International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/34362688