Birds of the Upper Cumberland Region: Species Accounts

Hermit Thrush (Catharus guttatus)

Hermit Thrush [lateral view of adult].Photograph Credit: Carol D. Williams; Cookeville Hwy., DeKalb County, Tennessee; February 2007.

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Abundance: Uncommon during late fall, winter, and early spring of most years but increases to Fairly Common during those seasons once or twice per decade as a result of a plentiful soft mast crop in the Region (see also Remarks [below]); recorded in all Regional counties (Map of UCR Distribution); the trend for the Regional wintering population is probably stable (see also Regional Bird-Monitoring Plan).

Status: Winter Resident; photograph (above).

Regional High Count and CBC/CBB High Count: 105 (22 December 2008; White County, Tennessee [CBC]; m. ob.); see also Remarks [below]).

Regional Extreme Dates:

    Early Fall: x (

    Late Spring: x (

Note: Fall arrival typically widespread by 25 October; spring departure usually fairly complete by 5 April.  Regional dates of earliest reported fall arrival and latest reported spring departure during winters from 2002–2003 to 2011–2012 follow:

Habitat: Greatest wintering density appears to occur at sites where thickets of Eastern red cedar are conspicuous.

YardWatch Results 2003 and 2004: Registered on 9 (of 125) monthly check-lists during 2003 and on 27 (of 206) check-lists during 2004, resulting in YardWatch frequency classifications of Very Uncommon and Uncommon, respectively; given the moderate variability characterizing this thrush's wintering population, these YardWatch frequency classifications are reasonably consistent with the overall Regional abundance classification.

Remarks: The winter population density of this thrush is somewhat dependent on the quantity (and perhaps the quality) of the soft mast crop.

    The Regional High Count (105) is also the highest total ever accumulated on a CBC conducted in Tennessee (LINK to High Counts for CBCs Conducted in Tennessee).

Check-lists of Birds for the Counties of the UCR

Check-lists of the birds of each county of the Upper Cumberland Region may be viewed by clicking on the links below. For each county, there are two check-lists: one list that shows the species that have been observed and where possible documented in the county within the larger list for the entire Region; and one list that includes only the species observed in the county with annotations for the date and observers for at least one sighting (the ultimate goal of the latter list will be to include annotations for the very first known Regional observation of each species in that county; this goal is probably one that will take many years to complete, if completion is even a possibility). To see if the species discussed in this species account has been observed in a county, click below or click on the link for the Map of UCR Distribution near the top of the page.

Check-lists of Birds for Some Public Access Birding Sites of the UCR

Check-lists of the birds of some public access birding sites within the Upper Cumberland Region may be viewed via the links below. To see if the species dealt with in this species account has been observed within any of these sites, click on the appropriate link below. See the pages for each county within the Gazetteer for links to additional smaller public access birding sites with check-lists in progress.

Literature Cited