Townsend’s Solitaire

You can find these birds throughout the mountainous regions of the Rocky Mountains in North America, the Townsend’s Solitaire is a Thrush. They are a familiar bird to the locals of the high mountain country, along with Mountain Bluebirds. They were named after the 19th-century ornithologist John Kirk Townsend in 1835 and have continued to be associated with the aesthetics of the beauty of the mountains since then.

About Townsend’s Solitaires

These highland birds are rather drab in appearance and inconspicuous in nature, but they are strong singers with sweet voices that seem to enchant the forests that they inhabit. They sing at the top of their lungs from densely wooded evergreen forests, adding color to their surroundings through their intricately composed songs that almost seem to have a bell-like quality.

True to their name, these birds are mainly solitary and hold individual territories for themselves during the winters. Their lifestyles have made them mysterious to non-birders and birders alike, and today we want to try throwing some light on the enigmatic nature of these birds. We will be discussing:

● Townsend’s Solitaire Photos, Color Pattern, Song
● Townsend’s Solitaire Size, Eating Behavior, Habitat
● Townsend’s Solitaire Range and Migration, Nesting

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Townsend’s Solitaire Color Pattern

Townsend’s Solitaires retain their plumages throughout the year, with the two sexes also appearing to be very similar to each other in appearances. Adults have gray on their head, back, breast, and belly; the gray forms a gradient between their upper parts and under parts, appearing to be slightly darker above than below. They have narrow, white eye-rings that encircle each eye, highlighting them. Their long, gray tail feathers are a blackish gray that has a contrasting white outline.

Juveniles are significantly different from adults in terms of their appearances. They have dark plumages that have a lot of spots with black, buff, and white marks on both underparts and upperparts. While their wings and tail are the same as those of adults.

Description and Identification

Townsend’s Solitaires are elusive and easy to notice with an inattentive eye. In order to find them, you have to keep your ears open for their sweet and cascading songs. You can hear these songs all throughout the year. Once you have heard their call, trace the sound to the source and you might catch sight of a flash of gray that darts out of steeply cut banks. They often perch on treetops while they sing. Compared to the breeding seasons, they are far easier to spot during the winters.

Townsend’s Solitaire Song

The most notable feature of these elusive birds is their song. It is typically complex and often prolonged, consisting of fast, clear, and musical notes. Although you can frequently hear them during the breeding season in the contexts of their territorial behaviors and courtship rituals. You can hear them singing regularly during the winters as well. These songs are organized into a series of notes that may either run together continuously or be organized into shorter phrases that constantly fluctuate in pitch. These are generally called “repetitive song series” and “nonrepetitive song series”.

Apart from their impressive collection of songs, they also have a variety of calls that have different qualities and different applications depending on the context. Calls help them establish their own territories and are generally high in pitch, clear, and have a bell-like quality as they ring through large distances. These calls are often a “tew” sound, but can sometimes end in bursts of “waa”. They also have calls that are composed of single, harsher notes that are used exclusively in moments of aggression against rival birds.

Harsh and raspy alarm calls that sound like “kree” is heard regularly during the breeding seasons when there are intrusions in their nesting grounds. Single-note, low-pitch calls are for food exchanges.

Townsend’s Solitaire Size

Townsend’s Solitaires are relatively medium-sized songbirds that are about 7.9-8.7 inches long. They have long tails, short bills, and a rounded head that appears to be rather small in comparison to the rest of the body. Their wings have a point at the end and have a wingspan of 13-14.6 inches. They have a steady stance, and their bodies seem to tilt upright, making them seem very lean and slender with a weight of approximately 1.1-1.2 ounces. Their beaks are short, and their legs are realtive to their size. When compared, these proportions make them larger than Mountain Bluebirds but smaller than American Robins.

Townsend’s Solitaire Behavior

Since these songsters spend most of their time on the high perches of their woodland homes, they rarely ever visit the ground except for when there are fallen berries present. When they are on the ground, they hop around in order to forage effectively but typically return to the treetops after some time. When they are in flight, they seem to fly in a relaxed manner, with slow wingbeats and a leisurely pace. They are however capable of strong and direct flights when involved in territorial chases.

These birds are true to their names and choose to spend most of their time alone throughout the year. They generally do not associate with other members of their species outside of the breeding seasons. However, you can find them singing on visible perches all year long. They find their prey by pursuing them and then catching hold of them with their bills, either by wings or on the ground. Though not extremely migratory, they move to lower elevations during the winters and aggressively defend territories.

During breeding seasons, males sing from treetops or fly around 300 feet above the ground and slowly descend in circular motions as they sing in order to attract a potential mate. Interested females reciprocate by allowing males to feed them, an act that establishes the pair bond. They begin nesting very early in the spring, mainly due to the fact that their chosen nest sites are often very susceptible to predators due to being on the ground. Their territories during the nonbreeding seasons are aggressively protected, with the birds physically chasing away other montane birds like Mountain Bluebirds, Western Bluebirds, Cassin’s Finches, Evening Grosbeaks, and Cedar Waxwings.

Townsend’s Solitaire Diet

Townsend’s Solitaries feed on a combination of insect prey and berries like other Thrushes. They mainly eat insects, butterflies, moths, and spiders during the breeding seasons when they require high amounts of protein in their diet. Their insect diet includes caterpillars, beetles, ants, true bugs, and other invertebrates. When insect populations are scarce during the nonbreeding seasons, they switch to berries. Their winter diet includes various juniper berries, mistletoe, winterberries, holly, buckthorns, currants, serviceberries, hackberries, elderberries, and other fruits.

Townsend’s Solitaire Habitat

Townsend’s Solitaires are birds that live in the Rocky Mountains of North America. Thus, you can mainly find them inhabiting pine, fir, and spruce forests with sparse layers of shrubs. Although they are birds of the mountains, their elevational range is large. You can find them anywhere between 1,100 to 11,500 feet high. Smaller populations also live in evergreen forests, deciduous forests, and quaking aspen stands. These birds move to lower elevations around 6,500 feet during the winter and generally gravitate towards one-seed, western, or Rocky Mountain juniper trees. Desert washes, open hillsides, and shrublands are also popular choices if there is enough food.

Range and Migration

Townsend’s Solitaires are resident to short-distance migrants in their mountainous habitats. Their range extends from Alaska, British Columbia, and Alberta to northern Zacatecas in Mexico. Most populations in Canada migrate to lower elevations during the winter, with some even moving short distances towards the United States. On the other hand, a majority of the birds that reside in the United States are permanent residents that do not migrate.

Townsend’s Solitaire Lifecycle

After mating, the female lays 3-5 whitish to pale blue eggs. Although females generally only have a single brood in a season, they may sometimes have 2 broods as well. Incubation occurs for around 11 days by females only. When the eggs hatch, the young chicks have closed eyes and are naked except for sparse gray down feathers. Their condition at hatching is helpless and they are fed by both their parents for around 11 days, with the young ones staying in the nest for a few more days before becoming independent.

Nesting

Potential nest sites are scouted out by both females and males, but the final selection is made by the female. The site is located on the ground along dirt banks, road cuts, rivers, or naturally eroded slopes in open evergreen forests. They tend to select areas that have a nook or a hollow to partially protect the nest from above from potential threats. However, the positioning of their nests on the ground greatly disadvantages them as predators like squirrels pose a threat to their eggs. As a result, they have a high failure rate when it comes to nesting.

The nests are cups made up of pine needles. The female is the sole construction worker in building the nests. She then begins to set up a foundation of twigs and then weaves her cup over it. The interiors have softer materials like grasses or strips of bark. It takes anywhere between 2 and 14 days to build the nest, depending on whether the site is on flat ground or on a slope.

Anatomy of a Townsend’s Solitaire

Townsend’s Solitaires are medium-sized Thrushes with a long tail, a short bill, and a small, and round head. They have pointed wings with buffy patches and a prominent white ring encircling their eye. These birds are prolific singers.

Final Thoughts

Townsend’s Solitaires have symbolized the serenity of mountains to human settlements along with the Rocky’s for decades now. Their sweet bell-like voices echo through the lush forests of these high regions. They are the only Solitaire species present in the continental United States, with their numbers stabilizing over the recent years.

These birds continue to amaze observers. Studies have shown that they require unimaginably large amounts of berries in order to survive the winter, with a single bird consuming anywhere between 42,000 and 84,000 berries in a season. If you live near juniper trees in a region around the Rocky Mountains, try adding a few to your yard to potentially attract these singers. If successful, you would not only catch a sight of these enigmas, but you would also get an audience from the second-most popular singer of the mountains.

Ornithology

Bird Watching Academy & Camp Subscription Boxes

At the Bird Watching Academy & Camp we help kids, youth, and adults get excited and involved in bird watching. We have several monthly subscription boxes that you can subscribe to. Our monthly subscription boxes help kids, youth, and adults learn about birds, bird watching, and bird conservation.

Bird Watching Binoculars for Identifying Townsend’s Solitaires

The most common types of bird watching binoculars for viewing Townsend’s Soltaires are 8×21 binoculars and 10×42 binoculars. Bird Watching Academy & Camp sells really nice 8×21 binoculars and 10×42 binoculars. You can view and purchase them here.

Townsend’s Solitaire Stickers

Stickers are a great way for you to display your love for bird watching and the Townsend’s Solitaire. We sell a monthly subscription sticker pack. The sticker packs have 12 bird stickers. These sticker packs will help your kids learn new birds every month.

Bird Feeders For Townsend’s Solitaires

There are many types of bird feeders. Here are our favorite bird feeders for your backyard. We use all of these bird feeders currently. Kids will have a great time watching birds eat at these bird feeders. Using this collection of bird feeders will provide a wide variety and many types of birds.

Best Bird Houses For Townsend’s Solitaires

There are many types of bird houses. Building a bird house is always fun but can be frustrating. Getting a bird house for kids to watch birds grow is always fun. If you spend a little extra money on bird houses, it will be well worth every penny and they’ll look great.