Grey-cheeked Thrush

Taxobox
name = Grey-cheeked Thrush
status = LC | status_system = IUCN3.1


regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Aves
ordo = Passeriformes
familia = Turdidae
genus = "Catharus"
species = "C. minimus"
binomial = "Catharus minimus"
binomial_authority = (Lafresnaye, 1848)
synonyms ="Hylocichla aliciae"The Grey-cheeked Thrush, "Catharus minimus", is a medium-sized thrush. This species is 15-17 cm in length, and has the white-dark-white underwing patterm characteristic of "Catharus" thrushes. It is a member of a close-knit group of migrant species together with the Veery and Bicknell's Thrush (Winker & Pruett, 2006); it forms a cryptic species pair with the latter. The Grey-cheeked Thrush is all but indistinguishable from Bicknell's Thrush except by its slightly larger size and different song. The two were formerly considered conspecific. [ [http://elibrary.unm.edu/sora/Wilson/v105n04/p0545-p0572.pdf Bicknell's Thrush: Taxonomic Status and Distribution] (1993)]

Adults are olive-brown on the upperparts. The underparts are white with gray on the flanks; the breast is greyish brown with darker spots. They have pink legs and a faint grey eye ring. They have gray cheeks.

Their breeding habitat is the northern spruce forests across northern Canada and Alaska. They make a cup nest in a low location on a conifer or on the ground at the base of a shrub.

These birds migrate to northern South America. This species is a rare vagrant to Europe. Its northerly breeding range and long-distance migration make it one of the more regular North American passerine migrants to cross the Atlantic.

They forage on the forest floor, mainly eating insects and berries.

This bird's song is a distant-sounding series of flute-like tones rising then falling in pitch. Like Bicknell's Thrush, they are very secretive during the nesting season.

References

* Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern

* Winker, Kevin & Pruett, Christin L. (2006): Seasonal migration, speciation, and morphological convergence in the avian genus "Catharus" (Turdidae). "Auk" 123(4): 1052-1068. [Article in English with Spanish abstract] DOI: 10.1642/0004-8038(2006)123 [1052:SMSAMC] 2.0.CO;2 [http://www.uaf.edu/museum/bird/personnel/KWinker/Catharus%20Auk%202006.pdf PDF fulltext]

External links

* [http://www.mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov/id/framlst/i7570id.html Gray-cheeked Thrush - "Catharus minimus"] - USGS Patuxent Bird Identification InfoCenter
* [http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/Gray-cheeked_Thrush.html Gray-cheeked Thrush Species Account] - Cornell Lab of Ornithology
* [http://www.sdakotabirds.com/species/gray_cheeked_thrush_info.htm Gray-cheeked Thrush Information] - South Dakota Birds and Birding