Hermit Thrush Singing

Hermit thrush singing in Maine. © 2011 Garth McElroy www.mcelroyproductions.com

[@nealrichards5725]

When this bird sings and the acoustics in the woods are just right, the echo and ambiance of sound is indescribable.

[@eastwindfarms3671]

It really is! I just found that this is the bird I hear in the woods!

[@silentlou4375]

Exactly, I hear it every summer morn & eve, and no other bird's song reverberates thru the woods like this one, it's so soothing. I only see & hear loons for very short periods, but the thrush song thru the woods has similarities to a loon's song over the water.

[@cindylou3708]

Neal Richards stops you in your tracks

[@nealrichards5725]

@@cindylou3708 I've been there too, so arresting..

[@legok6037]

Neal Richards it’s my favorite

[@MoonshineDust]

My stepmom, who is a former birder in her 90s, has hearing loss and can no longer hear the high-pitched song in the forest surrounding her home. I played this video at full volume for her, and her face immediately lit up. I know it’s not the same as hearing the real thing but she still enjoyed it. 💕

[@tammycremeens4990]

How thoughtful of you to do this for her! You brought her joy!

[@harridan.]

sweet

[@peterjohnson617]

Great thing to do for mom,good on you.....

[@theresaheidel9878]

"The song opens with clear flutelike note, followed by ethereal bell-like tones, ascending and descending in no fixed order, rising until reaching dizzying vocal heights and notes fade away in a silvery tinkle." , John Terres, "The Audubon Society of North American Birds... I found this quote in an article by John Trott, "Hermit Thrush: The Best Singer of All."

[@starryeyednomad3519]

I finally found the bird!!! I've been camping in the woods for a few weeks now and I'd wake up and fall asleep to this mystical birdsong. It sounds so surrealistic and magical in the woods. This video captures the basic song of the thrush but it's a whole different experience to hear it sing in the woods! I've heard it sing in several different keys, too. Beautiful! 🥰

[@mccoymovesyou_realestate]

Same! We vacation in Ontario and I have been dying to figure out which bird is making that noise.

[@mieszkowrobel2274]

It took me forever. You are right they sing in different ranges. With the reverb of the forest they sound like magic

[@bluearmstrong]

@@mccoymovesyou_realestate Noise?

[@m.mcdougall726]

I know what you mean! I’ve heard this bird while hiking in the foothills of mountains and the sound echos so beautifully. ❤

[@murderhill1947]

Boy, whoever was able to collect this extraordinary video, my hat is off to you. This is splendid.

[@rowmingoat5145]

One of my fondest memories of hiking the Appalachian Trail is listening to the Hermit Thrush in the evenings just before dark after a long hard day of hiking,,, Nothing better.

[@Christiamorous]

rowmin goat I heard them in the Sierra on the PCT. Such an eerie and beautiful sound.

[@claudias9391]

Sounds like a piece of heaven on earth.

[@r3inventing]

SAME!

[@danielplainview4587]

I remember them from my hike as well. At the time I didn't know what kind of bird was making those calls.

[@ujpestcsabi]

Same here!!! Unforgettably beautiful.

[@dalerichards5303]

Been hearing this bird for the last 2 years in northern new York. Today I finally get to see the source of the most beautiful sounding bird (my opinion) I've heard in my 63 years of life. I feel complete.

[@farrhanwit7817]

Birds are the jewels of this planet.

[@jsw207]

The hermit thrush is pure magic! When you hear them in the woods, especially multiple at once it's like you're in a fantasy land.

[@angeladellerba980]

the hermit thrush's song takes me to such a peaceful place when I hear it. I am in awe at that beautiful sound every time i hear it. It never gets old

[@whimsicalcupcake3719]

there's a really amazing book I read once called 'When the hermit thrush sings' that described the sound like a waterfall going backward, until I found this video I had such a hard time imagining what that would sound like and it's so much more beautiful than what I imagined

[@orteu9263]

cant blame you, horrible description haha

[@joannedavis6249]

Omg, I also thought the bird sounded like a waterfall

[@nevercanyoucant]

I kinda like it because it does sound very crystalline to me, and water is like a liquid crystal. And then, when put in terms of a waterfall going backward... has the notion of a sound defying time, or poking a hole in time. Definitely the quality of this I think. Such an ethereal sound.

[@DA-js7xz]

I've been hearing these beauties for years in the forests near my place without knowing what they were. Thank youuuuuu!

[@davidmetcalf1093]

All my life there seems to be something magical about that song that makes you happy.

[@YardHatOne]

We do a lot of hiking in coastal Oregon and the California Coast Redwoods. The song of the hermit thrush just echo's in the canopy's. It just completes the magic of being in those special places. Thanks for sharing. Would love to have a long recording.

[@ivansgirl144]

Takes me back home, where these birds sing everywhere. I miss them and their pretty song.

[@mellomarsh6501]

I heard a bird singing on the Saranac lakes of the Adirondacks while canoeing over the course of a few days. I couldn’t believe the nature of this bird call. I am a music lover and singer, and to me this was the most magical sound I had ever heard. The notes were so pure and perfectly pitched. The trill and tinkle at the end gave me shivers. It was echoing across the lake in a way that really extended the call’s length. It took me listening to 108 bird calls on the New York Audubon website to finally, finally find out who this beautiful voice belonged to. Thank you so much for posting this beautiful video. I thought I never would figure the mystery out or hear the call again, so thank you to all who record these beautiful vibrations. ❤

[@CaseyK-kz3wj]

I have a similar story. I have heard this bird twice in my life, but remember each time being amazed by it. The second time I heard it was years after the first. There were 2-3 of them in the surrounding woods, and I recorded their beautiful song. I spent years wishing I could figure out what the bird was. Finally this year I decided to look up birds common to the area I heard it in. After going through the list one by one, I thought maybe this could be the it. Then I discovered the Merlin Bird ID app, and confirmed it to be a Hermit Thrush. It is the most beautiful sound, especially when echoing through the forest.

[@rootz420]

Yall would like the app merlin bird ID

[@marymckinnon5313]

Grew up mostly in Vermont, and later lived for a while In Cape Breton. I spent most of my youth and as much of my adulthood as I could in the woods. The thrushes and other birds that I loved bring tears to my now 70 year old eyes.

[@stj971]

I lived in Vermont many yrs also. Miss the woods and this little guy.

[@susanl1120]

my most favorite bird ever. the song is so out of this world! they come from another realm called fairyland!

[@Esotericyoga]

Susan L AGREED❤️🙏

[@chrisjones6402]

Check out the swainson thrush song

[@tumazformosa960]

They sing two tones at the same time. These birds can control the air flows from two lungs independently. Human can sing two tones, too. It's called overtone singing.

[@stj971]

@@chrisjones6402 nice but nothing like this

[@chrisjones6402]

@@stj971 Interesting I have both these in my yard in the pacific northwest seasonly and they sound very very similar. Except swainsons is alot louder.

[@arriolabiblechurch3595]

One of the most beautiful bird songs.

[@Robot_Bebop]

I spent my summers as a kid in the forests of Washington state, camping and hiking with my mom. This sound has stuck with me through a move to Las Vegas. I've been here 10 years now and can still hear this sound when I daydream.

[@KFrost-fx7dt]

Once heard will never be forgotten. I was camping in the mountains near beaver ponds when my lover and I were awakened in the cool bright morning by this song, for the first time. And it was beautiful.

[@kevinsuarte]

On a good acid trip listening to this call... just engulfed in the slightest sounds for hours. I love that song!

[@squattrovt]

i love hearing these birds sing as the sun goes down from my porch in the vermont mountains!

[@stj971]

Yes, they are the Vermont state bird after all.

[@woodspirit98]

I spent my summers in northern Vermont. Peacham, West Barnet, Danville etc. I love all the sights, sounds and smells of those mountains.

[@starryeyednomad3519]

I finally found the bird!!! I've been camping in the woods for a few weeks now and I'd wake up and fall asleep to this mystical birdsong. It sounds so surrealistic and magical in the woods. This video captures the basic song of the thrush it it's a whole different experience to hear it sing in the woods! Beautiful!

[@qkranarchist3015]

I have a hermit thrush in my woods and I listen all day long. Hard to let anything else play (radio or whatever). This is so beautiful.

[@droneviking]

This is the most magic bird song. I heard it often during a visit in Nova Scotia a few years back and will never forget.

[@jsmcguireIII]

Excellent footage and audio. Thanks so much.

[@debbie94510]

To me, the most beautiful of all birdsong.

[@unsystematic]

I just read an article that these play to our human music scale so I had to listen... Beautiful

[@raymondrizzo284]

One of the great blessings of spring is to again hear the thrush’s song. Thank God for such a wonderful gift.

[@Cash_McCoy]

Wow, I sure do miss that beautiful song. I grew up listening to that in Western Washington. I live in the great state of Alabama now and unfortunately none of the Hermits followed me down here. I will go back and visit my home state later this year for a week or so, and I won't leave till I hear that lovely song again.

[@DR-et5ue]

The only other thing that is more amazing than this natural sound coming from this beautiful creature is that 64 people gave it a thumbs down! Unbelievable.

[@fionamaddock3984]

Wow! What a beautiful bird and it’s song is stunningly musical! It sounds like a beautiful electronic flute and acoustic guitar mixed together! I wish we had hermit thrushes in England! They would sound fantastic singing along with the blackbirds and song thrushes! ❤

[@al01100]

this bird has swallowed a flute! beautiful song!

[@forrestgenthner3152]

This is my favorite bird. To sit out on the porch and to listen to it sing makes my day. I can't wait for them to return to Maine from their winter migration!

[@markmorris3579]

25 years ago I spent the summer living in a tent in southern Maine.I woke up to this sound every morning.I rarely hear it now,don't I miss it.

[@briig]

I love hearing these guys when I'm going for a hike with my camera. They sound so eerie and peaceful at the same time

[@27Spiritgirl]

One of my favorite sounds ever - at dusk this beauty sings at our woodland cabin.

[@chrisvesy7245]

I heard this in my back yard...later I saw a Hermit Thrush perched on my hose reel box looking at its reflection in my sliding door glass 😃 Beautiful Bird & Song!🎶

[@edjkg]

I love Hermit Thrushes. They have such a beautiful song. I heard a hermit thrush in the woods by my house and my favorite thing to do in the afternoon is to listen to its beautiful song. We also have a Wood Thrush come every spring. It also has a beautiful, haunting, flutelike song.

[@lostinfflood]

Excellent work. I love listening to these wonderful singers.

[@marythompson2603]

We purchased some forest land and you can imagine our joy to find out this beautiful singing bird dwells there. We already can not wait to see and hear it again.

[@PlanetC64]

Wow!!! You show every detail of the musicianship of the Hermit Thrush. So beautiful

[@NBHank]

LOL sitting in my living room playing this and a bird in the backyard is answering! Incredible!

[@CapnCatbeard]

I've been hearing this bird for years whenever I go canoeing. Finally IDed it today in Merlin. It's really something else when you hear it echo across the lake

[@thumperbangin2000]

I am in New Hampshire... I love hearing this sound as the sun is going down :)

[@bobertpaulbufano4569]

This reminds me of home.

[@Lucia-yc9zj]

I’ve been trying to figure out what on earth is making this sound at my house for weeks!!!!!! So glad you posted this video, thank you!!!!

[@TheTaoofEternalWar]

They bring subtle grace and enchantment to any forest they grace with their presence. They also know when they are being watched.

[@amylynnehowe]

Just so absolutely gorgeous, that such a sound comes right out of their little bodies

[@sandralea4935]

This birds vocal range is insane. I was sitting listening to one a few evenings ago at my campsite in Kejimkujik National park...just trying to imagine what kind of vocal chords you need to accomplish this! One of my favorite song birds!

[@angelahaugh2740]

Wow this lil guy just chillin doin his thing, don't even know just how amazing he is! This is so magical, this bird, when you hear him!!

[@MONATOLOGY]

Beautiful bird. I enjoyed watching your short video. Thanks for sharing this.

[@_Oscar_]

Has a distinct, almost metallic, sound. Hearing it reverb across the lake as you paddle back before dusk can even make it eerie. Almost like a robot bird haha Nature is amazing!

[@obsidianzarok2361]

love the way it's song fades away like that

[@TrajanaFortis]

Finally found the bird I hear singing every day in Flagstaff. Thanks.

[@Ninhotep]

“Having studied the mocking-bird’s tones and the flight of the mountain-hawk, And heard at dawn the unrivall’d one, the hermit thrush from the swamp-cedars, Solitary, singing in the West, I strike up for a New World.” -Walt Whitman

[@birdingwithfinch3659]

Someone answer the phone!! A really beautiful capture of Hermit thrush singing. well done.

[@UnbrokenPhoenix]

I first heard this song camping in Colorado. It was a crisp, sunny morning with a layer of fog and it was almost eerie hearing this song emanate from it. I was completely captivated by it. They seemed to sing only during early morning and at dusk.

[@NewEnglandWildlife]

I'm envious of this footage. The quality of the sound and video is excellent.

[@clawedK9]

I love this bird. It's so fun to hear on a walk in the woods

[@cybilsnarf]

We have listened to this beautiful sound in our woods for years, never being able to find the bird that made it. It sounds so much more resonating in the woods than on a video. Rather sad the mystery is solved. Ioho they have the most beautiful song ever.

[@gunzrloaded]

I luv the hermit thrush song/sound....!!!

[@gregoryluckert9969]

Amazing footage. I’m so impressed.

[@m.riveram9217]

Great video! Impossible notes for a human! How is it even possible this sound comes off this little bird!

[@jenniferann6956]

Absolutely beautiful 😍❤️

[@Scott89878]

This is probably one of my favorite bird calls

[@JackfromOntario]

Several months ago I had had no idea that this bird even existed! Then, while camping in an Ontario provincial park in July, 2021, I saw a bird nest with 1 egg and 2 chicks (soon, 3 chicks). For a week I was observing the parent(s) bring food to the nest and even managed to make a video, which I posted on KZbin. Once I went back home, I was able to identify this bird as Hermit Thrush and that is why I am trying to familiarize myself with it, so next time I see it, I will be able to recognize it. With regards to your video: outstanding! Those who claim that today’s point-and-shoot cameras, or even cell phone cameras, can compete with professional video equipment, should watch this video!

[@user-sp4iw8dn3l]

Nature is such a wonder...how do you create such a wide range of creatures, amazing ✨

[@brob-zy8zi]

I have been in Alaska for a week and a half now and I've heard this bird several times. I just finished listening to it sing in the midnight light near Amber Lake. I knew it had to be a thrush because it sounds so similar in the way it sings to the Wood Thrush I always hear at home. Beautiful melodic birds. It almost sounds as if it is trying to cast a spell on you.

[@lauriesisco7496]

Magical flautist of the forest has captured my heart in Maine.

[@minxella12]

One of my favorite bird songs.

[@pollycrookston4826]

I just hear one this morning in the Rockies out here in Utah. I’d never heard one before, but it was so pretty I had to just stand there and listen for a while.

[@Earthgal063]

Their hauntingly beautiful song evoke a century of memories

[@charlieraven6342]

i heard this bird in the woods and wanted to know what it was, so i googled bird that sounds like a sad flute and found this video. thank you google

[@sketchartphoto8117]

i used to call this the flutie bird for years till i found this video.

[@toneshop]

Ha! me too. I've always wondered what kind of bird this was singing this beautiful, echoing, song whenever I am in the forest. Now I know.

[@sarahm2878]

I googled bird that sounds like a big rusty swingset... I didn't get any results. LoL

[@Mimi-do2cy]

“Sad flute” - yes!

[@jeanie4186]

@@sarahm2878 blue Jay!

[@UnholyRenton]

Kinda has a metallic sound to it... anybody else agrees?

[@hughstout]

Yeah...kinda has the same "old water pump" sound that blujays make...with the mix of a flute. Edit: actually...kinda like a echoey twinkle!

[@karenvandersluis577]

UnholyRenton Someone described it" ethereal"....

[@SeadogDriftwood]

The last part of the calls remind me quite a bit of an odd toy I had as a kid in the late 80s/early 90s in Ontario. It was a thin, bendy plastic tube, about a foot and a half long, and about a centimetre wide. You whirled it, and it produced a whistling that seemed to jump about through various high notes; the faster you spun, the higher the pitch, up to a point where it just stopped making the sound.

[@stephenmarien3495]

Insofar as a flute is metallic, yes

[@AlexOmiotek]

@@SeadogDriftwood yes, I thought the same thing!

[@hkrause6565]

I used to call this bird the alien spaceship bird before i figured out what it was.

[@edwardgarrity7087]

Beautiful video. Characteristic Hermit Thrush tail Lift seen from the side from 14 to 15 seconds and another one seen when the Thrush faces the camera from 1:24 to 1:28. Thank you.

[@oregonsurfer]

Mine too! Thrushes are awesome, I love all their songs!

[@kidowmer]

Heavenly music!

[@llbrunoll1]

Found you through Olivier Messiaen. Many Thanks!

[@leslil5590]

So beautiful--thank you, Garth!

[@praveensahul802]

very peaceful and melodious music

[@Countryman456]

One of my favorites!

[@DonGagnon]

Excellent video of a lovely songbird!

[@solohoh]

One of these follows me around whenever I clear brush & trees -- especially when I'm raking the debris. It comes within 10 feet -- quite friendly. I usually can't see it until it moves to get a worm in the areas I have just raked. Today I was out for a walk with a rake, when I sat down in one of the 5 chairs scattered around my 4 acres up here in the foothills near Yosemite, one came for a visit so I raked up a patch of soil and watched it forage. Haven't heard it sing yet but my fondest memories during my 1980s Appalachian Trail hike in the Dixie States was the song of the Wood Thrush early in the morning.

[@garyl6102]

I will always remember hearing that song in the early morning in the Adirondacks.

[@cecilelavas]

My very favourite birdsong. Heavenly. I hear them at my cottage property in Témiscaming, Québec.

[@susanl1120]

i grew to love them in my childhood days in ny state .

[@justinb2824]

I never knew who was making this spooky sad song out in the middle of the forest. It's good to see it's face!

[@baconation3771]

We found a spot where we were surrounded by 4 of these birds while hiking one day, so surreal, awesome.

[@animaljamissocool]

I found it (: I heard this song outside for years and I've been wanting to listen to it cuz its so beuatiful, but I didn't know what bird it was... but I finally found it. c: this song bringgs back so many memories..

[@johnesposito5425]

I heard this bird in Acadia National Park. The way it echo through the forest was amazing!!

[@coconibsrgood]

My favorite bird song!

[@katushawatkins1922]

I've only heard the Hermit Thrush two places: Mt. Mitchell in North Carolina... the peak, and Dolly Sods in WV.

[@jeffb587]

Plus one for Dolly Sods!

[@emk2585]

Gorgeous video.

[@adirondackexplorers2941]

Wow, this is a beautiful video. Thanks for sharing it!

[@DanielFCutter]

It does depend on the acoustics of its surroundings. Old growth redwoods make it echo, like reverb from a synthesizer. Or an auditory hallucination.

[@moglagaash]

such a beautiful call

[@reallypinkscug]

Song

[@ritupabankotoky]

Beautiful sound