Hermit Thrushes are not especially adept at clinging to the sides of things the way a nuthatch, titmouse, chickadee, or even a bluebird is. Nor are they adept at hovering like a hummingbird, or perhaps a kinglet, who do quite a bit of hovering in case you didn’t know. No, Hermit Thrushes spend much of their time on the ground foraging among the leaf litter or foraging in fruit laden trees and vines. I often see a Hermit Thrush feeding on the ground beneath our feeders here at the Museum.
Last week when all of our bird feeders were covered with siskins and other hungry birds, but mostly siskins, and the ground beneath the feeders was saturated with finches, sparrows, and Morning Doves, the only relatively open feeder was the suet. Apparently finding it uncomfortably crowded beneath the feeders, one of our local hermits decided to go for the suet. Here’s some photos.
I watched this Hermit Thrush make several sallies forth to the suet, some successful, some not so successful. The bird finally left, I think, a bit frustrated.
I found this post after doing a google search for “hermit thrush at suet.” We have a hermit thrush who has been doing the same thing: scouting for dropped bits under our suet feeder, and occasionally making a clumsy but sometimes successful attempt at clinging to the feeder. It seems to be getting better with practice. I enjoyed your story and the photos are so great! Thanks,
Ann
Thanks, Ann.