Similar Species
Gray-cheeked Thrush
Adult/immature
Gray-cheeked Thrushes look very similar to Bicknell's Thrushes and often cannot be separated in the field based on field marks. The best way to separate them is by voice.
© Dick Dionne | Macaulay LibraryTexas, April 26, 2014Similar Species
Hermit Thrush
Adult
Hermit Thrushes have a much brighter cinnamon tail and the contrast between the back and tail color is stronger than Bicknell's Thrushes.
© Yves Gauthier (Mtl) | Macaulay LibraryQuebec, April 18, 2014Similar Species
Swainson's Thrush
Adult (Olive-backed)
Swainson's Thrushes have a yellowish buffy wash on the face and throat that Bicknell's do not have. They also have a stronger eyering than Bicknell's Thrushes.
© Shawn Billerman | Macaulay LibraryWyoming, May 14, 2016Main Species
Bicknell's Thrush
Adult
Medium-sized brown thrush with a plain (unstreaked) brown face and little to no eyering. Extremely similar to Gray-cheeked Thrush and best distinguished by voice.
© Tom Johnson | Macaulay LibraryNew Jersey, May 11, 2016Adult
Medium-sized thrush with a plain brown face. Breeds in mountain forests with windblown and stunted balsam fir.
© Simon Boivin | Macaulay LibraryQuebec, July 16, 2016Adult and juvenile
Plain brown thrush that usually shows very little eyering. Tail is slightly warmer brown than the back. Nests in stunted evergreen forests on mountaintops.
© James Goetz | Macaulay LibraryVermont, January 01, 2008Adult
Slender brown thrush that breeds in mountains of eastern Canada and winters in the Greater Antilles.
© Tom Johnson | Macaulay LibraryBarahona, March 17, 2016Juvenile
Spotted below with a brown face. Often stays hidden among dense vegetation.
© Dick Dionne | Macaulay LibraryNew Hampshire, July 23, 2014Adult
Plain brown thrush with thin eyering and bold spots on the breast. Breeding range does not overlap with Gray-cheeked Thrush, but during migration the two species can occur together and are best distinguished by voice.
© Timothy Barksdale | Macaulay LibraryNew Jersey, May 01, 1998