7.25 inches long. The Gray-cheeked Thrush has cold-grayish upperparts. There are dark spots on the slightly buffy breast. The underparts are white with grayish flanks. The face has cold gray cheeks with and indistinct eye ring. The bill is thin with a pale base on the lower mandible. The legs are pink.
The Gray-cheeked Thrush is an regular migrant in the area but is many times overlooked due to the similar Swainson’s Thrush which is much more common. It is seen in May and again in mid September through October.
The Gray-cheeked is primarily a bird of brushy willow-alder thickets and low spruce forests with dense undergrowth. It is a relatively shy species, especially during migration. It is a long distant migrant flying from southern Brazil all the way to the arctic tundra with some birds going eventually as far as Siberia. Birders are more likely to hear this species’ nocturnal flight call during spring and fall migration than to observe migrants on the ground. The song is a descending spiral with oboe-like phrases that are similar to a Veery’s song but with the middle phrase being higher than the first and last phrase “wheeow, titi, wheeow”.
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