Help identify a thrush, please

[Steve Long]

I found a window-strike killed bird this morning that is some type of
Thrush. And not the usual Wood Thrush we see occasionally around here -
so probably a migrant.

The first thing I noted about it is a solid, very greenish olive hue on
its back and head that I am not seeing mentioned in any bird book.

It is ~5" long, with boldly spotted white breast and white belly.  From
what I can see of the eyes, it may have once had a continuous white eye
ring, but not sure due to damaged head feathers.

I am not seeing redishness along its tail to indicate a Hermit Thrush,
and am not seeing the buffy "spectacles" to indicate a Swainson's Thrush.

Wondering about Gray-cheaked and Bicknell's, which could conceivably be
migrating through, now.

Two pictures attached.  Bird is bagged in the freezer for now.

Steve Long

[Marcia Watson]

Steve,

That’s either a Gray-cheeked or a Bicknell’s - they both have an olive back. They’re not reliably separable by field marks; the song is the best way to tell them apart. I beleive bird banders can tell them apart by certain measurements; maybe someone will weigh in here.

That’s a beautiful photo of the feathering on the back.


Marcia
------------
Marcia Watson
Phoenix, MD

> On Sep 7, 2026, at 11:56 AM, Steve Long <steve...@atlanticbb.net> wrote:
>
> I found a window-strike killed bird this morning that is some type of Thrush. And not the usual Wood Thrush we see occasionally around here - so probably a migrant.

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> <thrush window strike - back.jpg>
> <thrush window strike - belly.jpg>

[Claire Nemes]

Hi Steve, I believe this is an Ovenbird rather than a thrush - the length (4.5 - 5") points to OVEN instead of one of the Catharus thrush species (closer to 7"). The olivey-brown back, indication of an eyering, and very clear breast spotting are also good fieldmarks for Ovenbird.

Cheers,

Claire

[Steve Long]

After reading comments and repeatedly comparing the frozen specimen to descriptions in various bird books, I am leaning toward Ovenbird as the species.

The olive color on the back, the connectedness of the pattern of spots on the breast and especially the appearance of 2 dark stripes on the crown seem to make it the best choice.

I had originally not considered Ovenbird because of the bird book illustrations that show two bold dark stripes over the crown with strongly reddish brown between them.  There is no reddish stripe on this bird's crown, and dark stripes were not evident when I first looked it over.  But, by smoothing the feathers after they became damp, I can now see 2 darker bands where they would be on an Ovenbird. But the color between them is still the same olive color that is on this bird's back.

The size is not really much help.  The photos show 5" length, compared to book figures of 6" for an Ovenbird and either 6.25" or 6.75" for a Bicknell's Thrush (depending on which bird book I look at).  Considering that the specimen had a head-on fatal collision with a window, its length is probably compressed/distorted, especially between the neck and head.  Also, the eyes and the feathers around them were already damaged by ants when I found it, so determining whether eye rings were partial or complete is problematic on this specimen.

So, it is really the now-visible 2 dark lines on the crown that seem to be the most convincing feature. 

Thanks to all for the help.

Steve

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