Absolutely wonderful sound - I agree.
It took me years of prowling around to actually see one in my woods. I looked it up in my bird book.
The loveliest call!

Rx

i must agree. their song and call is almost haunting; melodic and subdued, quite different from many of our more boisterous birds. i have always heard them around but i am hearing them more often (and actually seeing them) since i have opened up the woodland floor and thinned the undergrowth. they seem to prefer open woods.

Nothing better than listening to wood thrush singing!

A haunting melody one never tires hearing.

Wish they came to my bird friendly yard but too small and crowded. Lucky for me their only 15 min. away in a wooded glen.

I agree with you guys. I love to hear their sweet voice, especially near sunset. There is magic in there, something intangible that hits you in your heart. Alas, living in Japan now, I miss many of the NA birds. We have a number of species here in the mountains of course, but down in the valleys there are mostly crows (endless flocks) and sparrows. It's a little sad not to see the variety of perching birds and their exotic songs. Don't forget how lucky you all are for having these delightful creatures in your own back yard! PF

hi plantfreak,
you don't have to miss it. at the link below, both song and calls can be heard.
just like back home, as they say! :-)

Here is a link that might be useful: bird identification center.

Jeff,

Thanks for the cool link! What a great voice. It always reminds me of my hikes in the North Carolina mountains...I must go back one day. PF

Earlier this spring my 8 yr old son and I were hiking in a private nature preserve when it started to rain. As we sprinted up the trail heading back to the car my son stopped dead in his tracks and said "dad... what is that?", it was a wood thrush in full voice. We ended up sitting under a tulip poplar by a stream in the ensuing deluge for 20 minutes just listening. I think it was as haunting and mystical for my son as it was for me. Not sure why it was carrying on the way it was in the pouring rain but if it was willing to get wet and work so hard we were willing to get wet listening.

What a cool experience for the 2 of you KWoods!

We don't yet have enough habitat but we are starting to get a lot of species passing through so maybe they will remember our woods and come back some day. This past spring we had the cutest House Wren that came here for one day. Unfortunately he didn't stay but maybe next year. House Wren is very tiny but has BIG LUNGS and you'd swear when you hear his song that there is a much bigger bird in your presence.

Barb
southern Ontario, CANADA zone 6a

Keep working on that habitat knottyceltic, and they'll all be back. Over the 23 years that we've lived here, and let so much of the property grow up, we've had so many wonderful birds stop here, and many of them return every year. It's just amazing to see that every year, a new bird comes. You'll find that too, and it will be so neat for you!

Thanks for your comments CatherineT. :o) This is just our second year here so I have to tell myself to "be patient". I was so excited to see the little wren and then so sad when he didn't come back but birds 'do' remember and then they bring their friends so I will try to be more patient about it. Where I live seems to be a major flyway for many species of birds in spring as well as fall. This time of year you can sit on the deck in a lawnchair looking up to the sky and see flocks go by and say "mallard", "blackduck", "pintail", "canada geese", "crow", "tundra swan" etc... We live in the city but have had mallards on our lawn munching grass or padding around in puddles from the rain, we've had tundra swans in our back yard, wood ducks in our maples and a great blue heron was on my fence this summer which really shocked the heck out of me when I saw his long snakey neck through my daughter's bedroom window. We are very fortunate to be under this flyway so I'm sure that once our woods is restored a bit better we will see more and more species hanging around for a few days at a time. In winter we have a nice assortment too and the daycare kids just love watching the squirrels as well as the birds. The SKUNK I'm not too keen on any way you look at it! ;o)

Barb
southern Ontario, CANADA zone 6a

As fall segues into winter one cannot help but miss the plaintive and beautiful flute song of the Wood Thrush. They're back home now and it is with some anticipation that I await them each spring.

As I've moved into my new & last home (7 years ago), I have naturalized the yard, letting the oak leaves mulch my now extensive gardens. What I've found is that Thrushes will oftentimes use the property for a few days, and that is indeed a treat. While the Wood Thrush is a quite common woodland resident in our local woods, it's nice to see them on the property. What has been icing on the cake is that as the woodlands have progressed on my property I have also had the pleasure of hosting Swainson's Thursh and Grey Cheeked over the last few springs (the GC was here but for a couple of hours).

On the downside, I had 3 Hermit Thrush window kills this fall. While that's disheartening, it's a pretty good indicator that the neighborhood is still getting plenty of birds (I'm but a mile from the beach). It's funny when I walk our neighborhood in May, and folks tell me they saw a cardinal or a bluejay. I smile. If they only knew of the beauty and magnificence of spring migration, maybe they wouldn't cut down the trees that many new homeowners seem hellbent on doing when they move into my neighborhood. It's like a compelling itch that they have to scratch.

Well, off of my soapbox for now. I hate to have to tell all of you this, but their (Wood Thrush) numbers are falling and have been for the last 20 years (blame deerbrowse and the lack of an understory).

Give thanks this week to our natural world. And help educate those who don't know.....

All the best

Ted

Wood thrushes are the voice of the Eastern Forest! They have been impacted by deer destruction of the understory, where they nest. The thrushes all have beautiful voices.

Very well said Ted. We purchased a city sized lot in an old farm wood lot and have been working on bringing back the understory. We've been pleased so far with the variety of birds that we are getting to the feeders and suet cages but it's indeed sad as you say that people are hell bent on cutting down trees and ruining habitats. Our subdivision is meant to be a restoration site with contracts (not worth a damn thing IMHO) for buyers to refrain from removing understory but nearly all my neighbors move in and immediately spray the woods with roundup to kill everything. They rip out all the saplings and seedlings and put down flagstone, concrete and sod. My young neighbor even asked me if I would "refrain from naturalizing my front lawn because it doesn't *fit* a residential neighborhood"...I nearly laughed in her face... HELLO! WE LIVE IN A WOODLOT...a naturalized yard is in no better place. I didn't say that b/c I didn't want to start off on the wrong foot with the new neighbors but eventually they will have to get used to my gardening. I still will have 'some' grass but I just find it laughable that trees and shrubs would be considered "out of place" in a WOODLOT. If she likes concrete so much she should move to a condo. (incidentally her boyfriend and co owner of the house are in the concrete business...totally different mindset I guess...seas of concrete are beautiful to them).

Barb
southern Ontario, CANADA zone 6a