Go Wild for Wood Thrush

Meet Spring's Top Performing Artist on the Soundtrack of the Forest

When walking through the forests of Massachusetts in spring, you may be caught by a unique song resonating through the trees. You're not alone, as this small brown and white songbird has been capturing hearts and minds for centuries. In 1853, Henry David Thoreau wrote, "This is the only bird whose note affects me like music. It lifts and exhilarates me. It is inspiring. It changes all hours to an eternal morning."

As part of our yearlong celebration of going wild for wildlife, we're singing along with the sweet song of the Wood Thrush this May. Listen closely to learn about the power of our voices and importance of collaborative bird research. 

The Science Behind the Song

The Wood Thrush, like many birds, uses an organ called the syrinx to produce sound. Because the syrinx's two independent sides are each controlled by its own set of muscles, birds can produce two separate sounds simultaneously.

The Wood Thrush is a particularly celebrated example of this because it uses both sides of its syrinx in a coordinated, overlapping way to produce flutelike, echoing songs. The rich, layered, harmonic sound is actually one bird singing with itself. 

From Forest to Forest: a 2,000 Mile Journey to Massachusetts

After spending winter in Central America, Wood Thrush return each spring to nest in eastern North America, with many calling Mass Audubon wildlife sanctuaries home during the breeding season. 

To uncover the details of this extraordinary migration, Mass Audubon uses lightweight radio tags and works with international partners like Programme for Belize to track individual birds and document the forest habitats they depend on along their journey.

Receiver stations at Mass Audubon sanctuaries including Ipswich River, Drumlin Farm, and Wachusett Meadow capture signals as birds pass through, while stations installed in Belize extend the tracking network deep into wintering territory. 

With this data, Mass Audubon informs the protection and management strategies of large tracts of forest land, recognizing that Wood Thrush survival depends on protecting habitat at both ends of their incredible journey.

Learn more about this transnational effort