Wood Thrush -- Singing Behavior

I am blessed with thrushes in my woodland yard.  Eastern Bluebirds have just fledged their first brood from one of my nest boxes.  Migrating Swainson's Thrushes were singing a week ago while I planted my hummingbird garden and I spotted one this morning, resting on a limb before dropping to the ground to forage.  Wood Thrushes are singing all around the yard daily, establishing breeding territories.

The habitat here is perfect for nesting Wood Thrushes--shade, shrubby understory, moist soil and leaf litter--all contributing to an attractive habitat for nesting and raising young.

The thick foliage often makes it very hard to find a Wood Thrush even when it is singing right in front of you. (It also offers poor light for early morning photography.) Luckily they often fly from perch to perch while singing and that's when you can sometimes locate them for a good look.

Yesterday morning, it was movement of a different kind that caught my eye and allowed me to locate my singing thrush.  He was flapping his wings vigorously, then stretched his neck, producing his beautiful flutey song.  This was followed by another series of wing-flapping while dropping down onto the limb on his stomach, straddling his legs on either side of the limb, remaining there for a few seconds, then bouncing back up again to sing another refrain of his song.  

He repeated this sequence numberous times--a phrase of his song, followed by wing-flapping, down to his stomach, up again and another phrase of his song,  This observation helped to explain the seemingly long pause between phrases.

I have checked Birds of North America for this behavior and could find nothing that resembled it. I eliminated "brood patch" related behavior because the female is believed to incubate alone.  My thoughts were these possibilties:  scratching his belly, mating display, pre-coital practice (if there is such a thing), energy discharge.

I am interested in what others may know or speculate about this behavior or if you know of this behavior occurring in other species.  

There is always something new to discover while watching bird behavior.  May is an exciting month for bird activity.  Keep your eyes open and ears tuned in!

More about thrushes on this blog:

Wood Thrush
Eastern Bluebirds
Hermit Thrush

Wood Thrush Concert

One edge of my yard drops off into a steep, undisturbed woodland. To sit at its edge is to sit perched at the top of a grand amphitheater awaiting a performance. And yesterday there was a performance of the most pristine kind.

After two days of rain, rain and more rain, the forest canopy sagged and dripped. The thick piles of leaf litter were sodden and silent, the air cold and heavy, the sky overcast with gray. But the song of the wood thrush drew me into his hushed world, to a stage so reverent and tranquil that I became transfixed for the duration of an hour.

In silence I listened to the most heavenly and purest of songs. And after a while, I could follow his movement, though still unseen, by the non-melodious vocal ‘blubs’ and chirps that seemed to accompany his adjustment to a new perch and introduce his next song. This gave me great delight.

Toward the end of the concert, he paid me a visit, landing on a branch just over my left shoulder, and showed me his next perch, so I could both see and hear. It was as though I had a seat in the VIP section of the theater and the star had just come to shake my hand.

My lens is not nearly strong enough to capture a good photo at that distance, nor was the gray light of much help, but I do love my photos. They bring even more intimacy to the moment and will give me later reference for when, before the summer’s end, I sit down to paint this star's portrait.

Nature Calling

If you haven’t yet visited Nature Calling, pay Stephen Lyn Bales’ naturalist blog site a visit today. Philosopher, writer and naturalist of the Huck Finn variety, his daily musings into nature are both lyrical and refreshing. Today he features one of my favorite song birds, the wood thrush. Not only is the photo captivating, but also the interesting information about this bird’s vocalizations. I have yet to hear my wood thrust this spring, but now I anxiously await his arrival.

And while you are browsing, also visit my review of Lyn’s book, Natural Histories, Stories of the Tennessee Valley. (Scroll down to the second review.) No matter where you live, you will enjoy this expert storyteller’s ability to titillate your senses and lead you on a naturalist’s journey through the depths of time and change.