- Grey-cheeked Thrush
Taxobox
name = Grey-cheeked Thrush
status = LC | status_system = IUCN3.1
regnum =Animal ia
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 theVeery andBicknell's Thrush (Winker & Pruett, 2006); it forms acryptic 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 consideredconspecific . [ [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 northernCanada andAlaska . They make a cup nest in a low location on aconifer or on the ground at the base of a shrub.These birds migrate to northern
South America . This species is a rare vagrant toEurope . Its northerly breeding range and long-distance migration make it one of the more regularNorth America npasserine 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
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