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All About Birds

Swainson's Thrush

Overview
ID Info
Life History
Maps
Sounds

Swainson's Thrush Sounds

Overview
ID info
Life History
Maps
Sounds

© Timothy Barksdale | Macaulay Library Washington, June 05, 1995

Song (Olive-backed)
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Newfoundland and Labrador, July 02, 2007Recorded by Geoffrey A. Keller | Macaulay Library
Song and calls (Olive-backed)
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Alaska, June 08, 2006Recorded by Gerrit Vyn | Macaulay Library
Calls (Olive-backed)
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Alaska, June 25, 2006Recorded by Gerrit Vyn | Macaulay Library
Calls (Olive-backed)
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New Hampshire, May 21, 2010Recorded by Andrew Spencer
Song (Russet-backed)
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Oregon, July 04, 1985Recorded by Geoffrey A. Keller | Macaulay Library
Song and calls (Russet-backed)
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California, June 06, 2005Recorded by Curtis Marantz | Macaulay Library

Sounds provided by Macaulay Library.
Listen to more sounds of this species from the ML archive.

Songs

The Swainson’s Thrush is best known for its distinctive, fluting song, the upward-spiraling melody that breeding males use to defend nests and territory and also probably to attract mates. While this song varies somewhat from one individual bird to the next, its whistling, constantly ascending quality is always recognizable once you’ve heard it.

Calls

Both sexes emit about a half dozen different one-or-two-note calls, none of which has the flutelike quality of the advertising song. Migrating birds utter a hollow peep or note that resembles the call of a spring peeper frog. Intruders or predators in the vicinity of a nest may hear a whit—a sharp, single note expressing alarm or the intention to distract. The bird may repeat this note to try to lure a human intruder away from a nest, and it may respond to a human imitation of the sound. Swainson’s Thrushes also have a thin, high-pitched, single-note whine similar to that of American Robin. They also make a bink like water dropping onto a hard surface, and a single, drawn-out, metallic peeer reminiscent of the song of the Varied Thrush, but not as long.

Compare with Similar Species

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Bicknell's Thrush

Gray-cheeked Thrush

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Species in This Family

Thrushes and Allies(Order: Passeriformes, Family:Turdidae)

Eastern Bluebird

Western Bluebird

Mountain Bluebird

Townsend's Solitaire

Gray-cheeked Thrush

Bicknell's Thrush

Swainson's Thrush

Browse Species in This Family

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