Where’s Wildlife · Bird Field Guide
Veery
Catharus fuscescens
Pronounced (approx.): KATH-uh-rus fus-SES-enz
A cinnamon-brown forest thrush known for its descending, flute-like song.
Three Identification Clues
Usually warm cinnamon-brown above with relatively uniform upperparts.
Faint spotting on a buffy upper breast, with pale lower underparts.
A plump thrush with a rounded head and slender bill, often foraging on the forest floor.
Field Photographs
Showing all 4 photographs.
Beyond the first impression
Plumage & Identification
A softly marked woodland thrush
Many Veeries have warm cinnamon upperparts, a buff-tinted throat, delicate upper-breast spots, and a pale belly. Their rounded head, plump body, and straight narrow bill provide structural clues. Look at the distribution of spotting, not simply whether a brown bird has spots. [1]
Allow for darker birds
Birds from Newfoundland and the far west can be darker, with stronger breast spots and throat stripes. That variation can complicate comparison with other thrushes. Use our Hermit Thrush guide and listen for the Veery's descending song or harsh veer call when available. [1]
Life history
How This Bird Lives
Where to look
Try a quiet walk through rich woodland around dawn or dusk in late spring and summer. Listen first, then scan the forest floor and protected perches. A singer can be above eye level even though feeding birds spend much time below. [3]
Food & foraging
Veeries move through leaf litter in quick hops, sometimes turning leaves with the bill. Beetles, caterpillars, and other invertebrates are important during breeding. Later in summer and fall, berries and other fruits become a much larger part of the diet. [2]
A nest beneath the understory
The female builds on or near the ground, often among grasses, moss, brush, or fallen wood. A base of dead leaves supports the cup, which incorporates bark and stems and receives a fine rootlet lining. Dense low cover provides more than a hiding place for adults. [2]
Clutches contain 1–5 eggs. Incubation lasts about 10–14 days, and nestlings remain roughly 10–12 days. Please leave the understory undisturbed around a suspected nest rather than moving branches for a better view. [2]
Did you know?
A Closer Look at Veeries
A strong nighttime traveler
The quiet bird beneath the shrubs is a long-distance migrant. Veeries travel at night and may keep flapping through an entire night's flight rather than regularly alternating wingbeats with coasting. [3]
A connection to beaver wetlands
Damp woodland around beaver-created wetlands can provide breeding habitat. The connection is the surrounding moist forest and understory, not a requirement to nest over open water. [3]
Raising a different species
Veeries may incubate Cowbird eggs and care for the resulting young. Their role as hosts connects this woodland thrush to the brood-parasitism story in our Brown-headed Cowbird guide. [3]
Sources: [1] Cornell · Identification [2] Cornell · Life history [3] Cornell · Species overview
Range & Sightings
Seasonal Range
View Range Map ↗Recorded Observations
Observation records are not a complete seasonal range map.
iNaturalist observation map ↗