Wood thrush
Hylocichla mustelina (J. F. Gmelin, 1789)
The wood thrush (Hylocichla mustelina) is a species in the family Turdidae, order Passeriformes. Recorded adults weigh 47.8 g to 52.5 g and live up to 8.9 years. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.
.jpg){kind=link}
Quick facts about the wood thrush
- Weight
- 47.8 g – 52.5 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- 8.9 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Invertivoresrc for Diet
- Longest recorded lifespan
- 10.2 years
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- forestsrc for Habitat
- Egg incubation
- 13.5 dayssrc for Egg incubation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 3.5src for Young per litter or clutch
- Age at maturity
- 12 monthssrc for Age at maturity
- Litters or clutches a year
- 2src for Litters or clutches a year
- Lifestyle
- Generalistsrc for Lifestyle
- Migration
- Migratorysrc for Migration
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
Where does the wood thrush live?
Not recorded
What is the wood thrush?
The wood thrush (Hylocichla mustelina) is a North American passerine bird in the family Turdidae and is the only species placed in the genus Hylocichla. It is closely related to other thrushes such as the American robin and is widely distributed across North America, wintering in Central America and southern Mexico. The wood thrush is the official bird of the District of Columbia.
The wood thrush is a medium-sized thrush, with brown upper parts with mottled brown and white underparts. The male and female are similar in appearance. The song of the male is often cited as being the most beautiful in North America.
The wood thrush is an omnivore, and feeds preferentially on soil invertebrates and larvae, but will also eat fruits. In the summer, it feeds on insects continuously in order to meet daily metabolic needs. It is solitary, but sometimes forms mixed-species flocks. The wood thrush defends a territory that ranges in size from 800 to 28,000 m2 (960 to 33,490 sq yd). The wood thrush is monogamous, and its breeding season begins in the spring; about 50% of all mated pairs are able to raise two broods, ranging in size from two to four chicks.
From the Wikipedia article “Wood thrush” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wood_thrush&oldid=1380712815), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
Is the wood thrush endangered?
The wood thrush is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species.
How is the wood thrush classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classAves
- orderPasseriformes
- familyTurdidae
- genusHylocichla
- SpeciesHylocichla mustelina (J. F. Gmelin, 1789)
Synonyms Catharus mustelinus, Catharus mustelinus mustelinus, Merula mustelina, Turdus melodus, Turdus mustelinus, Turdus mustelinus
Other names and names in other languages (56)
- سُمنَة الغِياضArabic
- འཇོལ་མོ།Tibetan
- Milc'hwid-koadBreton
- tord boscàCatalan
- Griveta boscanaCatalan
- ᎧᏬᎬCherokee
- drozd lesníCzech
- drozd rezavohlavýCzech
- brych y goedwigWelsh
- Plettet SkovdrosselDanish
- WalddrosselGerman
- arbara turdoEsperanto
- Zorzal MoteadoSpanish
- zorzal del bosqueSpanish
- Zorzal maculadoSpanish
- Zorzal manchadoSpanish
- Zorzal Migratorio PecosoSpanish
- zorzalito de bosqueSpanish
- Zorzalito maculadoSpanish
- täpikrästasEstonian
- täplärastasFinnish
- Sprøklutur trøsturFaroese
- Grive des boisFrench
- Smólach coilleIrish
- Treshlen ny keylleyScottish Gaelic
- Griv bwaHaitian Creole
- קיכלי יערותHebrew
- erdei fülemülerigóHungarian
- TrjáþrösturIcelandic
- Tordo dei boschiItalian
- Tordo dei boschi americanoItalian
- モリツグミJapanese
- Miškinis strazdasLithuanian
- amerikinis miškinis strazdasLithuanian
- lāsainais strazdsLatvian
- Amerikaanse boslijsterDutch
- flekkskogtrostNorwegian
- Chi-AnaakOjibwa
- Chuchubi Barica PintáPapiamento
- Chuchubi Barika PintáPapiamento
- drozdek rudyPolish
- tordo-dos-bosquesPortuguese
- лесной дроздRussian
- Древесный дроздRussian
- Американский лесной дроздRussian
- DielkorásttisNorthern Sami
- drozd hrdzavochvostýSlovak
- gozdni drozgSlovenian
- gozdni cikovtnikSlovenian
- Šumski drozdSerbian
- fläckskogstrastSwedish
- Orman ArdıcıTurkish
- ağaç ardıç kuşuTurkish
- дрізд лісовийUkrainian
- 棕林鸫Chinese
- 黃褐森鶇Chinese
Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistTAXREFWikidataWoRMSIUCN Red List
Relatives of the wood thrush
Other species in the same family Turdidae.
Common blackbird
Turdus merula
Song thrush
Turdus philomelos
Fieldfare
Turdus pilaris
Mistle thrush
Turdus viscivorus
Ring ouzel
Turdus torquatus
Redwing
Turdus iliacus
CompareWood thrush vs Common blackbirdWood thrush vs Song thrushWood thrush vs FieldfareWood thrush vs Mistle thrush
Common questions
Answered only where our data holds the answer.
How big is the wood thrush?
An adult wood thrush weighs 47.8 g – 52.5 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.
Is the wood thrush endangered?
The wood thrush is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is not currently at risk of extinction.
How long does the wood thrush live?
The wood thrush has a recorded lifespan of 8.9 years.
What kind of animal is the wood thrush?
The wood thrush (Hylocichla mustelina) belongs to the family Turdidae in the order Passeriformes.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds · CC BY 4.0 · v7
Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Wood thrush (Hylocichla mustelina). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/wood-thrush
“Wood thrush (Hylocichla mustelina).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/wood-thrush.
@misc{wood_thrush_2026,
title = {Wood thrush (Hylocichla mustelina)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/wood-thrush},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}