NESTS or YOUNG 
@ 1950- 
A 1900- 1949 
@ BEFORE 1900 
PAIRS or SINGING 
MALES (JUNE) 
1 
MERCER 
Ale 
WARREN | 
A 1900 - 1949 re 
O 1950— 
i 
——al i 
ea 
scorT 
PIKE oul 
O B 
WOOD THRUSH 
BREEDING RECORDS 
on ie | 
ic ©) 
FULTO HELM ARS | Moc LEAN plaice tae e i 
Bis: “4) \ | 
pated eae 
Fig. 15.—Breeding records for the wood thrush in [linois. Singing 
male records are for June only. 
TAaBLe 3.—Breeding populations of wood thrushes in various Illinois habitats. 
HERMIT THRUSH (Catharus guttatus) 
(Fig. 16 and 17) 
Spring Migration 
Though the hermit thrush has been recorded in w 
at localities throughout the state, the winter populati 
so generally thin that the onset of the spring migratic 
late March is conspicuous (Fig. 18). The hermit is the: 
cold tolerant of the Catharus thrushes, and arriv; 
spring nearly a month in advance of the other three sp 
(Annan 1962), passing through the state before the 
species reach peak populations. Most of the hermit ti 
population is north of Illinois by the end of April, and 
are very few spring records later than May 12 ev 
northern Illinois (Fig. 18). The peak numbers of he 
probably occur in southern Illinois April 1-15, andi 
central and northern regions April 10-30. 
The hermit is the quietest of the four Catharus th 
es. Incontrast to the loud calls of the other specie 
hermit’s note is soft and low. Our phonetics for the cz 
“tock? “tuck,” or “trock,” and the call is not heard1 
so often as the calls of the other species. We have) 
heard the hermit’s call from night migrants, and oui 
indicators of the timing of migration are the few ht 
killed at night on television towers in the fall. We hav 
er heard a hermit thrush sing in Illinois, though tk 
sing occasionally in the northern region of the 
(Farwell 1919, and Craigmile 1945). 
Views as to the abundance of the hermit thrush 
markedly. Nelson (1876-1877) noted that the speci 
. 
. 
Birds Per | Type of Region or 
Habitat Acres 100 Acres” Years Census County Reference 
Virgin bottomland forest VI 21 1948 Nest Sangamon (C) Snyder, et al. 1948 
Bottomland forest 20 1966 Nest Vermilion (C) Karr 1968 
12-24 1946-1951 Nest Piatt (C) Weise 1951 
Upland forest Le 6-10 1946-1951 Nest Piatt (C) Weise 1951 
Forest edge 60 0-2 1959-1962 Nest Piatt (C) Balda 1963 
Oak-maple forest 5s) 0-14 1927-1948 Nest Champaign (C) Kendeigh 1944, 1948 
55 0-10 1949-1970 Champaign (C) Kendeigh & Brooks 196: 
Barnett & Balda 1966 — 
64 12 1943 Nest Champaign (C) Johnston 1947 | 
Upland oak-hickory forest 24 5 1967 Nest Hancock (C) Franks & Martin 1967 
Forest (all types including edge) 79-98 1 1957-1958 Strip North Graber & Graber 1963 | 
97-117 0-1 Central 
166-174 3-6 South | 
Second growth or cut-over woods 1S 40-93 1937-1938 Nest Rock Island (N) Fawks 1937, 1938 | 
Late shrub at 14 1966 Nest Vermilion (C) Karr 1968 
Shrub areas 62-67 3-6 1957-1958 Strip South Graber & Graber 1963 
Grazed bottomland 93 1 1955 Nest Macon (C) Chaniot & Kirby 1953 | 
Swamp and thicket 13 2 1950 Nest Jackson (S) Brewer & Hardy 1950 
Urban residential 98 2 1958 Strip South Graber & Graber 1963 
4 All figures were converted to read birds per 106 acres (number of territorial males or nests x On 
18 
