The American Robin is a ubiquitous bird with a distinctive orange breast and gray-brown back. It can be seen hopping on lawns, perching in bushes and building nests in urban, suburban and rural regions in every state of our country. Though familiar to many people, there are several facts and myths associated with this common member of the thrush family that are worth exploring.

First, robins are not the harbinger of spring that they once were. With warming winters and human altered landscapes that include more fruit-bearing shrubs, many robins stay in our region year-round. This parallels one of the other myths, that robins only eat worms. Their diet includes earthworms, insects and small snails. They also eat various small fruits such as chokecherries, hawthorn, dogwood and sumac berries, some of which persist and provide winter nourishment.

Not all robins are alike. Adult males have a darker head, and their orange breast is a richer color than the female’s. Though females vocalize, only the male truly sings. His whistle-like song is paraphrased, “cheerio, cheery-me, cheeriup.”

The American Robin is so called because it resembles the European Robin, which also has an orange breast and brown back. However, the two birds live an ocean apart and are not related at all. The European Robin is the size of a sparrow and belongs to the Old-World Flycatcher family. The American Robin is a type of thrush.

There are several other thrush species in New Hampshire. A common characteristic of thrushes is that young birds have speckled breasts. The robin’s spots are replaced by orange feathers as it molts into adult plumage. Most other thrushes maintain spotted breasts as adults.

Those of us who live in wooded areas may encounter some of the spotted breast thrushes. I recently saw one skulking under shrubs in my yard. The Veery is smaller than the robin (6-inches long compared to 8.5-inches) and more secretive. Its back feathers are soft brown, blending into leaf litter on the forest floor, making it hard to see until it moves.

Other thrushes that breed in our region include the Wood Thrush and Hermit Thrush. They spend most of their time on the ground and have brown backs and spotted breasts. Upon close observation, subtle differences can be used to distinguish them from each other. The Wood Thrush has a rusty head and very bold and distinctive spots on its breast and belly. The Hermit Thrush has a rusty tail and spots that do not extend to the belly. The Veery is uniformly brown on the back, with less distinctive spots.

Because they spend most of their time on the ground and blend in with the forest floor, woodland thrushes are more often heard than seen. They all have flute-like songs that sound other-worldly but are unique and can be used to identify them. The Veery’s song is a downward rolling series of notes that some say sound like the bird is saying its name “VEER, veer, veer.”

The Wood Thrush’s song is paraphrased as “ee-oh-lay.” The “words” sound cheery, but the song is haunting because it harmonizes with itself, singing two notes simultaneously. My personal favorite thrush songster is the Hermit Thrush. Its ethereal song is high pitched like a piccolo. The song is performed in three distinct parts, starting with a single note followed by two double note trills. It always stops me in my tracks when I hear it piercing through the evening air from deep within the woods.

The Eastern Bluebird is also in the thrush family. Its song is subtle compared to those of its cousins. The male’s lovely blue back and rusty breast are more distinguishing features for this small thrush.

Other thrushes that can be seen or heard in New Hampshire include the Swainson’s Thrush, which breeds in coniferous forests. Bicknell’s Thrush is rare and restricted to higher elevations above 2500 feet. The Gray-cheeked Thrush breeds in northern Canada and Alaska so is only seen in New Hampshire during migration.

Visit All About Birds from Cornell University (www.allaboutbirds.org/news/) to listen to thrush songs and learn more about these species. The more I learn, the more thankful I am to share the landscape with these special wild vocalists.