gray cheeked thrush north carolina | Best Life Birding- Birdwatching Tours

By Sally Siko

Last month, I had the opportunity to visit the property of a local birder (Brian P.) here in central NC who’s well known for his epic backyard birds.
In this case, the visiting Swainsons and Grey-cheeked thrushes were the main attractions.
After spending a couple of hours here it was easy to see why Brian’s yard was a choice destination for migrating birds.

In addition to putting up a nice variety of feeding stations, he’d constructed a beautiful creek and installed a number of plants so that his feathered visitors would have access to food, water and cover throughout the year.
Brian even was thoughtful to the needs of the birders stopping in by providing hot coffee, snacks and an info tent with flyers containing ID differentiation details on the various species of thrushes which grace his backyard oasis.
Truly a welcoming setup for birders and the feathered gems alike!

I was thrilled to be able to see and photograph both the Swainsons and Gray-cheeked together as this kind of thing is tremendously helpful when it comes to making an ID while in the field.
Though the two species appear similar, there are a few things to look for to help tell them apart.

As seen in the above photos in this post, the Swainsons Thrush has a prominent eye ring and some buffy golden brown coloration on its face.
They have an all around warmer color washing over their plumage too with shades of reddish brown on their backs and wings.

The Gray-cheeked Thrush (shown above) is grayer in overall plumage, with few buffy or warm tones showing in their feathers. They also lack the ring around their eyes plus they sport that namesake gray cheek patch with just a barely-there tinge of warm tones on their face.

Both the Swainsons and Gray-cheeks are making their way right through the state as the species are en route south for the winter.
They’ll only stick around for another week or so before returning in May so now is the time to see both before the year is through.

Photos by @sally_siko of @bestlife_birding captured on my mighty mirrorless monster, the @canonusa #R5

Now here’s a bird I was not expecting to find during my visit to Bass Lake Park in Holly Springs NC, a Gray cheeked Thrush!

I was walking along the trail at the southwest corner of the lake when I saw a flash of white with splotchy belly spots flutter in the branches above my head. Quickly I raised my camera to try and grab a photograph of the bird but it had disappeared.
I assumed that this was a Hermit Thrush given the area and time of year but wanted to be sure.
Standing there under the tree I waited for about 10 minutes to see if this bird would reappear.
Patience paid off because all of a sudden, there it was!
Right off the bat, I knew this wasn’t a Hermit Thrush because of it’s uniformly darker color, streaked breast and lack of distinct eye-ring.
Although the photos I ended up with aren’t the greatest, it was exciting for me to see this bird for the first time!

Gray cheeked Thrushes breed in coniferous forest across northeast Siberia, Alaska, northern Canada to north-central Quebec, Labrador, and Newfoundland, all the way south to northern British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and Ontario.
During the autumn they’ll pass through North Carolina on the way south towards their wintering grounds in Colombia, Venezuela, Peru, and into northwest Brazil.

These shy birds are one of the least studied among the spotted Thrush species as very little is known about their behavior in their winter range.
Such a shame because this is quite a lovely bird!
Want to see one too?
Look for them in mature hardwood forests near water next year as they pass through the eastern United States from early to mid May along their journey north during the spring migration.

Photos by @sally_siko of @birdwatching_nc on the fabulous full frame @canonusa
#5Ds