the way. The arrival timing should coincide with available food here. As climates along its route change, that may not happen. Its arrival in our woods is fairly consistent, with other parts of its preferred range reporting earlier or later arrival.
Other things threaten the bird’ s survival. Sometimes habitat destruction causes a decline in the species. And wood thrushes are vulnerable to brown-headed cowbird parasitism. The cowbird lays its eggs in the thrush and other bird’ s nests. Some species refuse these eggs, but the wood thrush accepts them as their own. Research has shown that in the forest edges of the Midwest, virtually every wood thrush nest contains at least one cowbird egg.
I found small clusters of broken snail shells along our trails and learned that shells are crucial to successful breeding. Many songbirds require 10 to15 times as much calcium to lay a clutch of eggs as a similar-sized mammal to nurture its young. Calcium-rich shells are picked apart as the ground is also surveyed for worms, beetles, and spiders. A ground feeder, the thrush nests in a small fork of a sapling or shrub, 5 to 15 feet off the ground. The nest is made of dried leaves, roots and lined with moss. Sometimes a piece of paper or plastic is woven in.
Brown County’ s woods continue to be a useful habitat for the thrush to feed and nest, or at least
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as a temporary stop-off as birds continue north. This conservation area is listed as an Important Bird Area( IBA), and its value as a biologic sink continues to be recognized world-wide.
But it’ s the song of this beauty that intrigues and tells me to serve as host to this and other arriving migrants. A consummate songster, the wood thrush can sing“ internal duets” with itself. In the final trilling phrase of its three-part song, it sings pairs of notes simultaneously, one in each branch of its y-shaped syrinx, or voice box. The two parts harmonize with each other to produce a haunting, ventriloquistlike sound. To some, it’ s typical of spring and looked forward to as much as the aroma of hyacinths and warmth of a sun-lit window.
Bird songs are part of my reason to arise early. Volumes and varieties fill the woods. I’ ve noticed male birds of different species square off by“ songmatching”— they answer a rival’ s song with a similar one. Maybe they try to perform it best. Wood thrush males are different. They almost always answer a neighbor’ s song with a different one. This allows me to try and pinpoint the source as I scan the woods for a look. Patience and a place to sit can help. A soft rain seems to increase the chance of spotting one, perhaps making earthworms more visible.
Another spring has arrived allowing us to enjoy these Brown County woods with our avian flute, the wood thrush. •
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