Cortes Species Highlight: Salmonberry Bird or Swainson’s Thrush
— by Shannon Hogan, 02 August 2022
If you live close to the forest’s edge or if you enjoy taking walks through the woods, then I guarantee you’ve heard the beautiful call of the Swainson’s Thrush. Traditionally, Indigenous People of the Northwest Coast know this bird as the Salmonberry Bird as it returns from its southern winter migration just in time for the ripening of the salmonberries. This little forest-dwelling bird packs quite the punch with their song by seemingly singing in an upwards tinkling spiral!
I first fell in love with this bird during my tree-planting days. Although I could never spot this elusive songbird, I could always fall asleep to their nightly songs. It took me longer than I’d like to admit to be able to match the species of bird to its song. Once I did, I now seem to spot them everywhere, specifically throughout Cortes’ many forests! Along the coast, you can spot two colour variations of the Swainson’s Thrush: the Olive-backed or the Russet-backed.
These guys love forest understory and shrub thickets, so if you want to attract these lovely birds to your home and listen to their choir, focus on planting native shrubs, preferably those that gift us berries! For example, they feed on reddish berries such as salmonberry, red elderberry, and huckleberry.
Follow these links to learn more about this bird!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PmMYVeE9QJw
https://www.birdnote.org/listen/shows/salmonberry-bird
https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Swainsons_Thrush/overview
https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Swainsons_Thrush/sounds
We would love to hear your stories and post your experiences with any of Cortes’ local flora and fauna! Please submit your short story and tell us something fun about your favourite species by reaching out to us at: friendsofcortes@gmail.com.
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Olive-backed Swainson’s Thrush
Russet-backed Swainson’s Thrush
