WOOD THRUSH

Danaus plexippus

The Wood Thrush’s pot-bellied body, short tail, straight bill, big head, and upright posture give it the profile of a scaled-down American Robin. Identified by their warm reddish-brown above and white with bold black spots on their underparts. All have a bold, white eye ring.

Forages mostly on ground, usually in forest undergrowth but occasionally on open lawns. Will use its bill to flip leaf-litter aside as it seeks insects. Feeds on berries up in shrubs and trees.

Critter

FIELD NOTES:

Terms

basal rosettes | a crown of leaves radiating from a stem. bract | a modified leaf or scale, typically small, with a flower or flower cluster in its axil. corolla | the petals of a flower, typically forming a whorl within the sepals and enclosing the reproductive organs. florets | one of the small flowers making up a composite flower head. inflorescence | the complete flower head of a plant including stems, stalks, bracts, and flowers. ovate | having an oval outline or ovoid shape, like an egg. panicles | a loose, branching cluster of flowers, as in oats. petioles | the stalk that joins a leaf to a stem; leafstalk. phyllary | one of the bracts forming the involucre or the head or inflorescence of a composite plant. sessility | parts that have no stalk - flowers or leaves are borne directly from the stem. umbels | a flower cluster in which stalks of nearly equal length spring from a common center and form a flat or curved surface.