SNOW DAY VARIED THRUSH

 "How does it happen that  birds sing,that snow melts, that rose  the rose unfolds , that the dawn whitens behind the stark shape of trees on the quivering summit of the hill....." -Victor Hugo (1802-1885) ( considered the greatest of the French authors)

 Varied Thrushes  look great against the snow.

 Chubby little birds, with orange pot bellies and  sleek beaks.

 Hopping along the ground  they pick up insects in the summer. Seeds and nuts in the fall.  They love to raid bird feeders and  flap at the other  birds. So scary.

 Hummers don't seem to mind the Thrush. They can be as ferocious with the best of them.

 Thrushes sit on exposed branches to sing their haunting, thrilling songs. 

 Thrushes breed in dark Pacific forests, but in the winter they brazenly take over gardens and any bird feeders they find.

 Similar to robins  they are often mistaken for their cousins. 

 Thrushes are related to Western Bluebirds, Aztec Thrush, Eye-browed Thrush, Rufous Robin, Dusky Thrush, and White-rumped Shama.

 The Varied Thrush has a huge range  spanning 3,300,000 Kms. bordering Canada, U.S. and Mexico. 

 A group of Thrushes is called , interestingly  enough, a "mutation" ( or sometimes a "hermitage")

 When it flies it creates a long whistle song.

 Its regular song  is distinctive. A series of long eerie, almost spooky whistles on 1 pitch,with success notes on different pitches. 

 Female is very like the male, only with a dark back. Both parents help raise  and feed their young. They are beautiful birds, first to show up just before spring.

 "The woods would be very silent if no birds sang except those that sang best...." -Henry Van Dyke (1852-1933) (Author and Clergyman)

 Photographs 2017: M. McConachie Woods   ( Campbell River, B.C.)