Bird of the Month: Townsend’s Solitaire
Written by Andy McCormick
Andy McCormick, Volunteer and Former Board President of Eastside Audubon
An uncommon member of the thrush family, Townsend’s Solitaire breeds in higher elevations in Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia.
Western North America’s high mountain thrush has a uniform gray plumage worn year-round. The grayness is accented by a complete white eye ring and the wings are marked by buffy-orange wing bars which are more easily seen when the bird is in flight. The black bill and legs are distinctive among thrushes. Juvenile Townsend’s Solitaires have bold, white-spotted plumage on the body and wing coverts. The eye ring is also prominent in juveniles, but the wing pattern is less obvious (Alderfer).
The song of Townsend’s Solitaire is its most distinguishing characteristic, and it has been described as an extended warbling of “clear whistles and musical trills” (Dunne), and as “glorious,” and an “infinitely fine and sweet rendering of mountain music” (Bowen). In spring, the bird sings from high in trees maximizing its broadcast. It also prefers a high perch to observe a wide area for insects for which it sallies out to take on the wing. Photos, videos, and vocalizations of Townsend’s Solitaire can be found at the Macaulay Library.
PREFERS MONTANE REGIONS
Townsend’s Solitaire
Scientific Name: Myadestes townsendi
Length: 8.5”
Wingspan: 14.5”
Weight: 1.2 oz (34 g)
AOU Alpha Code: TOSO
The Townsend’s Solitaire is a North American representative of the genus Myadestes which contains 13 species of gray-colored solitaires in Central and South America and also including the Cuban Solitaire (M. elisabeth), and the Hawaiian Omao (M. obscurus) in the ABA (American Birding Association) Area. These birds are called solitaires for their secretive behavior. In addition, the genus name reflects their diet of insects. Myadestes is from the Greek for fly eater, combining mua for fly, and edestes, eater. Both the scientific and common English names for Townsend’s Solitaire are honorifics for ornithologist John Kirk Townsend (1809-1851) (Holloway).
The Townsend’s Solitaire defends territory within a coniferous forest and constructs a bulky open-cup nest in a crevice in a cliff or near the ground under a log or among upturned roots of a fallen tree (Kaufman). Since this bird is poorly studied, little is known of the details of breeding. Nevertheless, incubation is thought to be about 11 days and fledging follows two weeks later.
DISTRIBUTION AND MIGRATION
Townsend’s Solitaire has a wide breeding range in mountainous areas from eastern Alaska through British Columbia and in ten states of the western United States. Breeding in Washington is limited to the northern Olympic Peninsula and the Blue Mountains in eastern Washington. Within other states, the solitaire is resident, and a second subspecies resides in the Sierra Madre Occidental in Mexico (Bowen).
The northernmost population withdraws from Alaska and northern Canada in August and moves south for winter where the birds seek out their preferred diet of juniper berries in juniper and juniper-pinyon forests. Migration occurs over a wide area and. faithful to its name; individual solitaires can be found almost anywhere during the migration period. Its population is thought to be stable and there are no conservation plans in place for it.
Photo credit: marneejill
References available upon request from amccormick@eastsideaudubon.org
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