That thrush in 2022

[Alvan Buckley]

https://www.facebook.com/groups/357272384368972/permalink/6833482943414518/

In June 2022, two visiting birders reported a Veery from the lower Rennies River with an audio recording to support their sighting. Many of us were fortunate to see and hear this individual over the subsequent weeks and acquired several wonderful images and audio. It was a lifer for many!

There was some concern about the ID at the time but that was never acted on. Eventually, in the Summer of 2023, some outside birders flagged some of the photos on eBird and suggested it was a Gray-cheeked Thrush instead.

Check out the Facebook discussion at the link above for an insightful discussion including some revealing comments from David Sibley himself.

Ultimately, the experts have consistently deemed the June 2022 thrush to be a Gray-cheeked Thrush with an atypical vocalization. Also odd is that it seemed to prefer a deciduous habitat. We may never know the full answer, but for the purposes of eBird I recommend labelling it as "Gray-cheeked Thrush" or "Thrush sp." You are free to do as you please on your life lists!

Hopefully there'll soon be another Veery in the area for us to enjoy and study!

Thanks to many of the local birders who provided their media and insight on this challenging sighting.

[Alison]

Post by Alvan Buckley
https://www.facebook.com/groups/357272384368972/permalink/6833482943414518/
In June 2022, two visiting birders reported a Veery from the lower Rennies River with an audio recording to support their sighting. Many of us were fortunate to see and hear this individual over the subsequent weeks and acquired several wonderful images and audio. It was a lifer for many!
There was some concern about the ID at the time but that was never acted on. Eventually, in the Summer of 2023, some outside birders flagged some of the photos on eBird and suggested it was a Gray-cheeked Thrush instead.
Check out the Facebook discussion at the link above for an insightful discussion including some revealing comments from David Sibley himself.
Ultimately, the experts have consistently deemed the June 2022 thrush to be a Gray-cheeked Thrush with an atypical vocalization. Also odd is that it seemed to prefer a deciduous habitat. We may never know the full answer, but for the purposes of eBird I recommend labelling it as "Gray-cheeked Thrush" or "Thrush sp." You are free to do as you please on your life lists!
Hopefully there'll soon be another Veery in the area for us to enjoy and study!
Thanks to many of the local birders who provided their media and insight on this challenging sighting.

[Alvan Buckley]

For those who can't access the discussion, I have copied it below:

Original post:
Would appreciate thoughts on this thrush from Eastern Newfoundland in Summer 2022 that has caused some disagreement.

It was initially identified as a Veery based on a recording of what sounded like a typical Veery. Further recordings revealed that it sang both Veery-like and GCTH-like songs. Eventually it was seen and photographed and the confusion only grew. The photos are highly variable in how they depict the dorsum colour. To add to the challenge, Veery has up to 5 sub-species with significant geographic variation as shown here:
https://ebird.org/checklist/S29189746

Is there enough here to conclusively label this as either VEER, or GCTH, or even a hybrid? There is one DNA-confirmed record of VEER x BITH:
https://media.ebird.org/catalog/canada?taxonCode=x00865

REPLIES:

Daniel Lane
The call notes certainly would seem to indicate Veery
https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/461116471...
Overall, the plumage would agree, I think, although in a few photos it seems that the spotting on the breast is almost blackish rather than brownish. Still, I'd call this a Veery unless it could be captured and some morphological character were to suggest it could be a hybrid.

Michael O'Brien
This looks like one of those rusty toned Newfoundland Gray-cheeks. Vocalizations are fine for Gray-cheek too. I feel certain it’s not a Veery, and don’t see much to suggest a hybrid. Only question in my mind would be Bicknell’s, but I think Gray-cheek is a better fit.

Matt Schuler
I agree with Daniel that the call is certainly indicative of veery, but might be within range of grey-cheeked. However, the shape of the secondaries seems off for a veery. I'm curious what others think, but the S7 projection should be beyond S1 and have as much or more projection as P1. On this bird the secondaries are all the same length. Also, the secondaries of veery are typically very wide, especially S7 and S8. I don’t think that it would be possible to tell a hybrid from only photos and vocalizations. I think that this is probably just a grey-cheeked with a slightly off song.

Julian Richard Hough
The general spotting and lack of any buff in the malar/lower throat combined with the dull upperparts seem pro GCTH/BITH. Doesn't strike me as a western Veery but I don't have much experience with those darker birds.

Robert S. Mulvihill
If it helps, there are clear wing molt limits and juvenile greater coverts with those characteristic buff “teardrop” spots, donut is a hatching year bird. That said, it strikes me more like a reddish Gray-cheeked than a Veery.

David Sibley
I agree with others that Veery can be ruled out. For me key points are the dark spots extending down to the lower breast, and the strong wash of olive-gray around the bend of the wing and onto the flanks.
That said, the dark-capped appearance (pale cheeks contrasting with dark crown) is more typical of Veery. That's not enough on its own to make a case for a hybrid, but along with the odd voice it is intriguing.
As a general comment, after decades of searching I have concluded that the so-called "Western" Veery is not a discrete population. Color varies within each population and series of specimens from different regions do look a bit different in overall color, but with lots of individuals overlapping. A few birds from the west (like the Colombia photo linked) are at the extreme - noticeably drab and distinctly spotted - but this seems to be a very small percentage. Most Veeries in the west are reddish and faintly spotted, not very different from the east.