Veery

Veery - A Summer Resident 

Veery - Probable Juvenile

The Veery (Catharus fuscescens) is a common summer resident here.  It is heard much more than it is seen because of its beautiful voice and its preference for thick underbrush.  It is a shy species and not well known to the casual birder.  It is a summer resident to British Columbia across southern Canada to western Newfoundland, south to Colorado and Minnesota, eastward to New England and south in the Appalachians to Georgia.  It winters in central and southern Brazil.  It is a remarkable flier during migration and has been recorded to fly up to 160 miles (256 km) in one night.  It can fly at altitudes of up to 1.2 miles (1.9 km).

The Veery is a member of the Turdidae family along with other common family members in NB; the American Robin, the Eastern Bluebird, the Hermit Thrush, the Swainson's Thrush.  The Veery is the least spotted of all our resident thrushes.  It is uniformly reddish-brown above with faint spots on the upper breast.  It has a very weak eyeing and a pale face.  It has a clean white belly and light gray flanks.  There is sometimes a weak brown lateral throat stripe.  The juvenile bird is lighter and the eastern race is more reddish-brown.  The bird shown above is likely a juvenile but the exposure may be a bit washed out.

Veery - Adult

The photo above shows the faint eyering and the gray on the face.  Note the horn-coloured bill and the dark culmen (top part of the bill).  The Veery is 18 cm long (7.3").  

The Veery prefers dense habitat in moist deciduous or mixed woods.  It builds its nest on the ground or low in bushes or shrubs.  The nest is made of grass, stems, twigs and moss and is lined with soft bark and leaves.  The nest is placed on a platform on dry ground in a sheltered area.  Incubation is 10-12 days and is carried out by the female.  The 3 to 5 eggs are blue in colour.  Veeries eat insects, spiders, berries and other fruit.  They normally are seen foraging on the ground and in trees, swooping down from a branch to capture prey or gleaning food from branches and foliage.  

For identification, the Veery would have to be distinguished from the Wood Thrush which is not normally here.  The Wood Thrush is larger, has a reddish-brown head and prominent dark spots on its breast, sides and upper belly.  The Hermit Thrush and the Swainson's Thrush do not show reddish-brown on the head and back.  The Hermit Thrush has a reddish-brown tail and the Swainson's Thrush has no reddish-brown at all.  

This discussion of the Veery cannot end without mentioning its magnificent voice.  It sings in the evening and the early morning with a slow, flute-like downward spiralling melody which some say sounds mournful.  It is extremely beautiful.  It is hard to put it in human language but Sibley describes it as veerr veerr veerr.  It may be trying to say its own name (given by us humans) but its beautiful melody cannot be adequately described by our inferior language.  Take a walk in the woods along a stream in the early morning or evening and listen for this remarkable songster.