Swainson's Thrush (nestlings) "Olive-backed" subspecies Catharus ustulatus swainsoni Mt. Mitchell, Christmas Mountains, New Brunswick 29 June 2010 While searching for Bicknell's thrush nests, our team discovered a Swainson's thrush nest with three chicks.  This nest was monitored and put under video surveillance until the chicks fledged.  Unfortunately, only two of the three chicks lived to fledge; the third chick (seen here on the left) was outcompeted for food by its siblings and succumb to starvation in the nest. We identify the individual birds by their band numbers, as chicks are too small to receive colour bands which we use to identify adult birds.  From left to right, #2291-38997, #2291-38995, and #2291-38998 in the back.

Bicknell's Thrush (male) Catharus bicknelli Sweat Hill, Christmas Mountains, New Brunswick 6 June 2010 A male Bicknell's thrush sings atop a balsam fir tree at Sweat Hill.  My research team captured and banded this bird in early June.  He is a second-year male, #1461-67852 with colour bands white-black over yellow-light green.  The red colour band on the left leg is to designate this bird as being banded and thus residing in New Brunswick; other monitoring programs in Vermont, Nova Scotia, and Québec, use different colours to designate the different state or province of origin. Bicknell's thrushes are particularly shy and are rarely actually seen.  This was the only bird I was able to photograph in a natural setting, and unfortunately overcast rainy conditions created a terrible backlight for the photo.  I have enhanced the photo to show more detail on the bird - I apologize for any loss of quality this entailed.

Hermit Thrush "Eastern" subspecies Catharus guttatus faxoni Parc Summit, Montréal, Québec 10 April 2010