Birdwatching Singer extraordinaire: Swainson’s thrush

Published 10:40 am Tuesday, June 12, 2018

Nesting on the Willapa National Wildlife Refuge and elsewhere on the Peninsula has begun in earnest. We know because the dawn chorus is in full swing. The symphonic sounds of the forest, grasslands, marshes bay, and our ocean beaches fill the air. One of the most familiar of the singers is the Swainson’s thrush. Its song is flutelike … a series of rolling, rising, liquid notes. It is loud and melodious.

As with many species, the thrush varies in color from east to west. Here in the Pacific Northwest we see the rusty hued version. It wears spectacles with thin, pale rims or eye rings. Its chest has medium sized brown spots. It is a little smaller in size than a robin.

I always have to look long and hard to find the Swainson’s thrush. It is not often seen because it frequents the thick understory of the forest, especially where there are tangles of ferns, blackberries, fruiting trees and shrubs where it forages on the ground for insects, berries and snails. However, the song of the Swainson’s thrush gives it away. The flute like song rings out as one walks through Tarlatt slough or along the path through Beard’s Hollow to the ocean. It can also be heard in many places at Cape Disappointment State Park, or at the North end in Leadbetter State Park and wherever else on the Peninsula there is forest with a thick understory.

Even though the Swainson’s thrush is elusive, I have discovered that I can see it daily because it loves to take a bath! A bird bath, along with a thick underbrush of ferns and blackberries, will bring it out in the open for all to see. Keeping the bath clean and filled will not only bring in Swainson’s thrush for your viewing pleasure, but will also entice other song birds such as the rufous hummingbird, Anna’s hummingbird, the Wilson’s warbler and the orange-crowned warbler.

Bird baths are part of the live theater happenings in our yard. Hummingbirds seem to like be the directors of the show. You will see them buzzing the bird bath trying to dislodge the current bather so they can have a turn at cleaning up their act, but the Swainson’s thrush holds on fast to its position, and will not usually give in to the hummer until it is finished bathing. Other species are not so brave!

Now is the time to pay attention to the bird choir that sings its songs in early morning hours. Listen for a very loud flute-like song. Chances are you will be listening to one of the best singers in the forest, the Swainson’s thrush.