Hermit Thrush

Here's a pair of Hermit Thrushes I met about a month back. Though some of their relatives like robins and bluebirds are fairly comfortable around human dwellings, the Hermit Thrush tends to live in dense vegetation and away from people, inspiring the "hermit" part of their name. I had to shoot through some vegetation to get these pictures and wonder if I only got them because they were distracted with breeding season soon to start.

These birds are noted for an unusual foraging technique called foot quivering. The general idea seems to be that they grasp some vegetation in their foot, shake it around, and see if an insect falls out. This is in contrast to most birds who will poke around in the vegetation with their beaks.

April 11, 2022 at Washington Valley Park
Photo 189540706, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)


April 11, 2022 at Washington Valley Park
Photo 189540734, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)


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