A Throng of Thrushes

     While it may not be unusual to see a group of birds together taking advantage of some available food, I have been really surprised at the number of Varied Thrushes that have been feeding outside our house these last few days.  While I was aware that there are Varied Thrushes around here, it is a bird I usually just hear in the forests, it is a bird I rarely see.  

    I was surprised at the beginning of March to see a couple of them searching for food in the few spots that were free of snow.  When that snow had melted, they kept busy scratching around in the leaves, looking for food, which probably didn’t offer them much.  

    Then at the beginning of the week we got a foot of snow (30cm) which blanketed the ground, and the thrushes were in trouble, because the meager source of food they were depending upon was suddenly covered up.  I took mercy on them, and spread some rolled oats around in a few spots where I had seen the birds looking.

    I was surprised at what then happened.  Suddenly, there was a flock of Varied Thrushes that appeared in my yard.  I counted sixteen of them at one point.  It is the male birds that migrate first, giving them time to establish a suitable territory for  mating, the female will come later.  So all of the thrushes that appeared are males, and you know how males generally act;  they keep chasing other males away.  That is what the throng of thrushes are doing in my yard as they eat, they are also keeping busy chasing the other male birds away from the food.  

    Male Varied Thrushes look a lot like Robins, but are more decorative (photo below).  It is a treat to see so many of them, and watch all of the activity outside.

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