Wood Thrush
Common
Name: Wood Thrush (WOTH)
Scientific
Name:
Hylocichla
mustelina
Global/Continental
Conservation Status: Not
on the IUCN 2004 Red List
National-level
Conservation Status:
U.S.
– Bird of Conservation Concern
Key
Reference(s):
BNA No. 246 (Roth et al. 1996)
Distribution:
Breeds from se North Dakota, c and e Minnesota, n Wisconsin, n
Michigan, s Ontario, sw Quebec, n Vermont, c New Hampshire, sw Maine, s
New Brunswick, and w Nova Scotia south to e-c Texas, the Gulf coast, and n
Florida, and west to e South Dakota, c Nebraska, c Kansas, and e Oklahoma;
casual breeding to s Manitoba, sw North Dakota, and c South Dakota.
Winters from s Louisiana (casual) and s (rarely eastern) Texas
south through e Mexico (including the Yucatan Peninsula and islands) and
Middle America (primarily Caribbean slope, but recorded in El Salvador and
rarely on the Pacific slope from se Oaxaca southward) to Panama and nw
Colombia (AOU 1998).
Habitat
Associations:
Deciduous forest and woodland, locally in dense second-growth,
mixed woodland, and parks and suburbs with dense shrub layer; in migration
and winter, a variety of wooded habitats, primarily broadleaf forest and
woodland (AOU 1998).
Source(s)
of Research/monitoring Needs (Number in ( ) is Physiographic Area number):
Adirondack Mountains Bird Conservation Plan (26); Southern New
England Bird Conservation Plan(09); St. Lawrence Plain Bird Conservation
Plan (18); Ohio Hills Bird Conservation Plan (22); Lower Great Lakes Plain
Bird Conservation Plan(15); Mid Atlantic Coastal Plain Bird Conservation
Plan (44); Mid Atlantic Ridge & Valley Bird Conservation Plan(12);
Allegheny Plateau Bird Conservation Plan(24); Mid-Atlantic Piedmont Bird
Conservation Plan (10); Northern Ridge & Valley Bird Conservation Plan
(17); Southern Ridge & Valley Bird Conservation Plan(13); Southern
Blue Ridge Bird Conservation Plan (23); Texas Avian Research Projects-
TARP (Texas Partners in Flight 2001); Canadian Action Plans (Dunn 2002);
BNA No. 246 (Roth et al. 1996); PIF Monitoring Needs document (Partners in
Flight Science Committee 2004)
PIF
Continental Plan Monitoring Needs Category: ** (Long-term population
trend monitoring considered adequate, but some issues (e.g., bias) may not
be accounted for)
RESEARCH/MONITORING NEEDS (source(s) of needs)
Monitoring
- Priority
monitoring action – NOTE: Breeding
Bird Survey (BBS) provides acceptable data at the continental level (PIF
Monitoring Needs doc)
- Improved
Monitoring
- Better methods for monitoring species that use patchily distributed
components of the forest including WOTH (Adirondack Mts; Mid Atlantic
Ridge & Valley); Use non-linear analysis of BBS to improve
detection of fluctuations (Canadian Action Plan)
- More
information on WOTH population declines - Verify population declines of forest birds,
including WOTH, through independent measures (Adirondack Mts); Watch
for persistent population decrease (currently stable, maybe increase
in Canada) (Canadian Action Plan); Determine factors limiting
populations & causes of population declines (Lower Great Lakes
Plains; Northern Ridge & Valley; Allegheny Plateau; Adirondack Mts;
Southern New England)
- Population
ecology studies of WOTH (Lower Great Lakes Plain; Northern
Ridge & Valley)
- GIS
analysis of Forest Preserve and private lands to identify, catalog,
and prioritize forest stands for priority species habitat including
WOTH (Adirondack Mts)
- see
needs under "Wintering" , "Landscape", and
“Demographics”
Habitat
Needs/Ecology/Life History
- Refined
knowledge of habitat requirements (including differences between
regions)
- Refine knowledge of habitat requirements (Mid Atlantic Piedmont;
Adirondack Mts); Better refine what is known about requirements for
species within the upland mixed forest including WOTH (Mid Atlantic
Coastal Plain); Determine specific habitat requirements within the
region (Mid Atlantic Ridge & Valley); Determine habitat & area
requirements, especially in relation to management practices for
forested wetlands & current land use trends (St Lawrence Plain);
Habitat features associated with reproductive success (BNA)
- Site
fidelity in relation to age, sex, success, and habitat (BNA)
- Determine
relative importance & use of other habitat types during
post-fledging period (Allegheny Plateau; Ohio Hills)
Effects
of Management Practices
- Effects
of Silvicultural Practices
- Better understanding of the effects of logging practices, including
stand age and stand structure, on forest habitat quality and
occurrence, breeding density, nesting ecology, survival and
reproductive success for priority species including WOTH (Adirondack
Mts; Southern New England, Lower Great Lakes Plain; Northern Ridge
& Valley; Mid Atlantic Ridge & Valley; Allegheny Plateau; Ohio
Hills); Effect of thinning mid-successional oak-hickory-tulip
poplar-pine stands on priority species including WOTH (Southern Ridge
& Valley); Effects of bottomland hardwood forest management
practices and subsequent landscape changes on priority breeding birds
(including WOTH); includes distribution, nesting ecology, and nesting
success (TARP - West Gulf Coastal Plain)
- see
needs under "Habitat Needs...."
Landscape
- Landscape-level
factors affecting WOTH populations - Better understanding of landscape-level
effects of land-use practices on forest bird populations including
WOTH (Adirondack Mts; Mid Atlantic Ridge & Valley; Ohio Hills);
Monitor reproductive success at different locations to understand
whether fragmentation causes problems (Lower Great Lakes Plain;
Northern Ridge & Valley; Allegheny Plateau; Ohio Hills; Southern
New England)
- Conduct
regional land use analysis to identify large forest blocks and
landscapes w/ high % forest cover (
Southern New England
; Mid Atlantic Piedmont)
- see
needs under "Demographics"
Migration
- Habitat
Use During Migration
- Determine use of forest patches,
including urban greenbelts, by migrants in spring & fall
(St Lawrence Plain); Habitat use in migration and relationship to
abundance of high-lipid fruit (BNA)
- Timing
of migration by sex and age (BNA)
Wintering
- Identify
wintering areas of specific breeding populations (BNA)
- see
needs under “Demography”
Invasives/Exotics/Disease/Parasites/Contaminants
- Assess
sensitivity of WOTH to pesticides used on gypsy moths and other insect
pests (
Southern New England
; Lower Great Lakes Plains; Northern Ridge & Valley; Allegheny
Plateau)
Demographics
- Various
studies of the demographics of WOTH - Studies of WOTH demographics (Mid Atlantic Piedmont); Determine
demographics of forest birds within the region so that significant
source populations may be identified including WOTH (Mid Atlantic
Coastal Plain); Age- and sex-specific survival rates in temperate and tropical
habitats (BNA); Annual and lifetime fledgling production by
individuals (BNA);
- Information
on sex- and age-partitioning of breeding and wintering habitats (BNA)
- Develop
definitive methods for aging and sexing adults (BNA)
- see
needs under "Landscape"
Habitat
Restoration
- Determine
if restoration of mid-successional
oak forest
stands will create better habitat for many bird species including WOTH
(
Southern Blue Ridge
)
[Link
to References]
[Link
to PIF Bird Conservation Plans]
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