Hermit Thrush at the Window
Earlier yesterday morning when I checked out the front yard, all the usual suspects were around – Chickadees, Titmice, a pair of Downy Woodpeckers, Red-bellied Woodpecker, two Brown-headed Nuthatches, and a Mockingbird back and forth from the feeders, a pair of Eastern Bluebirds – the male several times sitting possessively on top of the bluebird house – and several White-throated Sparrows, Chipping Sparrows, Dark-eyed Juncos, Mourning Doves and Robins foraging on the ground. Among the ground birds was one Hermit Thrush, which flew to the cover of some wax myrtles when startled and stood there, raising and lowering its tail. Then – to my surprise – it flew again, this time into a Savannah holly tree right outside the window where I was standing. It hopped from branch to branch only inches away.
It may be the closest I’ve ever come to a Hermit Thrush, though I’ve often watched one from not far away. It ate a holly berry, then hopped to another branch and stopped, with its back to me, looking over its shoulder with a white-ringed eye, its slender bill slightly tilted up. The spotted breast looked muted, and overall it was a fawn brown, rather dull color, except for the reddish tail – but the behavior and personality of a Hermit Thrush are intriguing. Even though it may come out into the open often and regularly, it looks the part of an eccentric hermit, wide-eyed and easily spooked. It stops and looks around frequently, flicks its wings and hops or runs with a characteristic gait. It’s only and completely in the eye of the beholder, but to me a Hermit Thrush always looks slightly guilty and impish – but proud of itself.
We rarely hear the hauntingly beautiful song of a Hermit Thrush here, since it’s only here for the winter, so we get a somewhat different view of its life.
Nervously, this one raised and lowered its cinnamon tail several times, then hopped to another branch and flew away, back toward the wax myrtles.