Bicycling the Chisago County back roads on fresh June mornings. I hear the ethereal, fluty call of the Veery. It spirals downward, as if it were blowing through a pipe, hollow and musical. More frequently, I hear their warning call. “Veer, veer,” loud and persistent. This summer, I’m hearing more veeries than wood thrushes, in remnant tamarack swamps and in small woodlots.
Veeries are members of the Thrush family, a group of excellent singers that include Robins, Hermit Thrushes and European Blackbirds. Thrushes notably sing at dawn and dusk, but at the peak of the breeding season, they sing throughout the morning. To hear what this lovely bird sounds like, click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UaKYEQRlbYM.
The Thrush family in North America has experienced major population declines in the last century (save for the robin.) In part this is because they are long-distance migrators, spending time in both southern and northern hemispheres, needing suitable habitat in both; and in part because they undertake a perilous six–thousand mile migration twice a year. Veeries nest in the northern United States and southern Canada, and overwinter in southwestern Brazil.
Veeries are somewhat buffered from drastic population declines by their preference for dense, damp, mostly deciduous woods, particularly disturbed woods which are not uncommon. Disturbed woods often have a dense understory which provides protection from predators. Unlike robins, Veeries nest on the ground or in shrubs no higher than five feet off the ground. They tend to prefer forest edges, which are increasingly common as humans fragment forests. This preference is a two-edged sword, since the Brown-headed Cowbird, a nest parasite, often targets Veery nests.
When producing eggs and feeding young, Veeries focus on insects and other invertebrates—sources of high protein. Later in the season, they switch their attention to berries—juneberries, strawberries, elderberries—wild grapes, and other fruit.
In Minnesota, Veeries produce one clutch of eggs per season, although they may renest if a first nest is destroyed. By mid-July, the breeding season is over and the magical song no longer fills the air in early morning.
In mid-September, the Veery fall migration is underway. Their route to southern Brazil takes them over the Gulf of Mexico. Like many long-distance migrators, they fly at night. Veeries have been observed flying at altitudes greater than a mile. Crossing the gulf in mid-September exposes them to the tumultuous Atlantic hurricane season. Recently, a researcher at Delaware State University who has studied Veeries since the 1990s has correlated a tendency of Veeries to nest earlier in the season during years with severe hurricane activity. The birds lay fewer eggs, and depart earlier for South America. Birds that might in other years attempt to renest, forego the chance to breed.
Veeries are, in fact, better than computer models at forecasting an active hurricane season. And they do it in May, long before the autumnal weather pattern establishes.
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