Artwork by John Sill
Wood Thrush Small Journal
$20.00
The following description appears on the inside cover of your small journal.
DESCRIPTION
Wood Thrush (Hylocichla mustelina)
In the deciduous woods of eastern North America, the melodious, flutelike “ee-oh-layo-ee” of this accomplished singer graces the forest landscape. Males sing frequently, especially in the morning and at dusk. Females sing a shorter version of the song when their nest is disturbed.
The wood thrush places its cuplike nest of dead leaves and mosses in the fork of a tree limb. 3 or 4 pale blue eggs are incubated for about 2 weeks. After hatching, both parents tend the young, and many parents successfully raise 2 broods per year.
The wood thrush faces several perils in its struggle to survive. Since the wood thrush prefers to nest in forests of 250 acres or larger, fragmentation of our forests is a serious problem. Most wood thrushes winter in eastern Mexico and the Caribbean slope and northwestern Columbia. There has been extensive disturbance of forest habitat in the wood thrush’s wintering grounds as well as its summer territory. As a result, wood thrush numbers have been declining for the past 25 years. If we don’t protect both summer and winter habitats, then fewer melodious songs will grace the forests in the spring.
In forests our creativity can grow without limitations. Perhaps these forest dwellers can teach us to let our own creativity come alive.
artwork by John Sill
