Varied Thrush, Ixoreus naevius


Varied Thrush
Varied Thrush are regular winter visitors in the Bay Area, but in most years they are present in small numbers and hard to find; as they  tend to frequent shady forest floors and retreat into trees when approached, they are even harder to photograph. The male above and female below were at a picnic area in Stevens Creek Park in 2007, and let me get close enough for my first decent pictures of this attractive species. The male can be recognized by his darker breast band.


Varied Thrush


Varied Thrush
Just five days after I photographed the two birds at the top of the page, the female shown above turned up in my yard and posed for this shot in my fountain! Wintering Varied Thrush seen in our area are often feeding on acorns, as with the male shown below.


Varied Thrush

Varied Thrush
Above, a Varied Thrush in the Southern California desert, not a usual habitat for this acorn-loving bird of the temperate forests.


Varied Thrush
My companions and I on a June 2011 Alaska bird photography expedition were able to get good photos of this male Varied Thrush after we heard his unmistakeable and haunting single-note song in the woods along the Kougarok Road north of Nome.