Similar names, different families With their beautiful songs, alliterate names and often remarkable resemblances, it’s easy to confuse thrushes and thrashers. Both are Passerine—perching—songbirds, but their family tree splits into unique branches. Thrushes are part of the Turdidae Family Turdids found in Minnesota include: American Robins, Eastern Bluebirds, Veerys, and Swainson’s, Hermit and Wood Thrushes. All are known for their…
Note: this is the full article by Guest Contributor MARK NEWSTROM. An excerpt of this article is featured in the March/April 2019 Bird’s-Eye View Newsletter Since the beginning of this author’s life in the mid-1950s, the variety of birds seen in and around the Twin Cities area has surprisingly changed. Herein are five examples of bird species that were not…