THRUSHES

Veery

SCIENTIFIC NAME: Catharus fuscescens

The Veery is a small North American thrush species. It has a plump body, round head, a straight, narrow bill, and fairly long wings and legs.

Adults have reddish-brown upperparts and white underparts, flanks are gray, face is grayish, with incomplete and indistinct gray eyering. The sides of their throat and breast are buff, with indistinct fine brown spots. The center of their throat and belly are white.

They have pale bill and legs. Their bill has black upper mandible and creamy pink lower mandible, with black tip. Legs and feet are creamy pink.

Both sexes are alike.

Juveniles have more spotting on the breast and back than the adults.

Both sexes are 6.7 - 7.1 inches in length, with 11 - 11.4 inches wingspan and 28 - 54 grams in weight.

CALL: A low “phew”, often prolonged and slurred "veer”.

SONG: A rolling, descending series of notes “da-vee-ur-vee-ur-veer veer”. Each note gets progressively lower in pitch, creating the sensation of spiralling or cascading down the scale.

Berries and insects make up the majority of their diet. Insects are the primary food source during the breeding season. In late summer and fall, they feed on berries, and they move higher to forage.

Undergrowth in deciduous and mixed woodlands (less often coniferous forest) especially near streams, where the land is damp and boggy.

Breeds from southern British Columbia, southern Quebec and south-western Newfoundland, south to Oregon, Ohio and New Jersey, and in the mountains to Georgia.

Winters in South America.

The female builds an open cup-shaped nest with weeds, twigs, grapevine bark, and wet, mud-like leaf mould, lined with fine rootlets and fibers.

She lays 4 pale greenish blue eggs and incubates them for 10 - 12 days.

SOURCES:
https://en.wikipedia.org
http://www.oiseaux-birds.com