The other day in Eatonville, we came upon a thrush foraging at the side
of a fairly quiet road, on a forest edge. It was lunging forward to
pull insects out of the grass. It was clearly a thrush, but certainly
not a robin, Varied Thrush, or bluebird, brownish with a lighter facial
stripe and spotted/streaky chest. Therefore, I assume it was a
Swainson's Thrush (russet-backed, according to Peterson's), but I wonder
if 1) Swainson's Thrush would normally be present this early in the
spring and, 2) they would be bold enough to feed a mere ten feet from a
car, albeit a slowly moving one. I had the impression that they were
extremely shy birds of the deep forest.

Speaking of which, I read in "Plants of the Pacific Northwest Coast",
which I was poring over to research an unrelated topic, that Swainson's
Thrush is considered to arrive when salmonberries ripen. Because of
this, it was called "salmonberry bird" by many Northwest native tribes.

Do you think I saw a salmonberry bird? If so, it's a "seen" lifer for
me, as I've heard them numerous times but never been able to spot any!

Mary Johnson
Auburn, WA
mjohnson at becu.org



NOTICE: This communication and any attachments may contain privileged or otherwise confidential information. If you are not the intended recipient or believe that you may have received this communication in error, please reply to the sender indicating that fact and delete the copy you received without printing, copying, retransmitting, disseminating, or otherwise using the information. Thank you.