Animalia Life

Turdus migratorius
TAXONOMY
Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766, America.
OTHER COMMON NAMES
French: Merle d’Amйrique; German: Wanderdrossel; Spanish: Robнn Americano.
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS
9.8–11.0 in (25–28 cm); male 2.1–3.2 oz (59–91 g); female 2.5–3.3 oz (72–94 g). Dark brownish gray upperparts; black head (brownish gray in female) with broken white eye ring and yellow bill; brick-red breast (chestnut-orange in female); white lower belly and undertail coverts; dark tail with white outer corners. Juveniles are similar to adults but have white markings on the back and shoulders, and heavy spotting on the underparts.
DISTRIBUTION
Throughout Canada, Alaska, United States, Mexico; winters in south of breeding range, Bahamas, Guatemala.
HABITAT
Mainly damp forest and woodlands, from tundra to golf courses, gardens, parks, and town shrubberies, farmland with hedges, and scattered woods.
BEHAVIOR
Bold and tame, feeding on ground where walks, hops, or runs; large roosts after breeding season. Flocks in winter.
FEEDING ECOLOGY AND DIET
Fruits, berries, grass seeds, many invertebrates, including beetles, caterpillars, grasshoppers, snails, spiders, and earthworms.
REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY
Breeds April–August, nest, large and untidy, of grass, twigs, stems, and string, lined with mud and fine grass. Three to four eggs, incubation 11–14 days, fledging 15–16 days. Two broods.
CONSERVATION STATUS
Not threatened.
SIGNIFICANCE TO HUMANS
None known.

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