7.0 inches long. The Swainson’s Thrush has olive-brown upperparts. The face is bold with buffy “spectacles”. The chin, throat and breast are variably buff colored. There are dark spots on the breast. The underparts are white with brownish flanks. The bill is thin with a pale base on the lower mandible. The legs are pink.
The Swainson’s Thrush is a common migrant in the area. It is seen in early April through late May and again in early September through mid October.
The Swainson’s Thrush is a secretive denizen of the forest. It forages higher off the ground than most other thrushes and also uses fly-catching methods to obtain insects such as mosquitos. This has given it the common name of “Mosquito Thrush” in Maine. It is considered common in the northern spruce-fir forests but populations are declining. The song is an upward rolling, “po, rer, reer, reeer, reeeeee”.
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