SPOT-BREASTED LOOK-ALIKES

      Ovenbirds, wood thrushes and brown thrashers nest in woods and thickets in Pennsylvania, and throughout much of the eastern United States.  And while nesting there, these species of unrelated song birds feed mostly on invertebrates they catch on forest floors.  

     Interestingly, these three kinds of birds that share woodland nesting habitats have brown feathering on top, but white underparts, streaked with black spots.  Those plumage color patterns on both genders of each species camouflages them on woodland floors of dead-leaf carpets as they feed.   

     Each of these woodland species has its own niche, which allows each one to raise young in much the same environments as the others, with minimal competition for food.  Ovenbirds, which are a kind of warbler, generally nest in drier, maturing oak woods.  They place their unique, dead-leaf nursery on the dead-leaf-covered ground.  Each pair of ovenbirds builds a dead-leaf roof on top of its cradle, but leaves one side open to enter the nest.  

     Each ovenbird of both genders has a decorative, black-bordered orange streak on top of its head.  Males of this kind sing a chant that sounds like "teacher, teacher, teacher", that rings through the spring and summer woods.  Bird songs proclaim territory and attract mates for reproduction.  Ovenbirds winter in Central America and some of the Caribbean Islands.

     Wood thrushes are likely to nest in bottomland woods.  They build their open-cup cradles of dead leaves and grasses in crotches of young trees about six feet above ground.  

     Wood thrushes run and stop, run and stop, like robins on lawns, when searching for food on woodland floors.  Males sing lovely, flute-like songs that sound like "ee-o-laaaaa" or aa-o-leeeee", throughout much of each day, but especially at dawn and dusk.  And wood thrushes winter in Central American woods.

     Brown thrashers are a member of the mimidae [mimic] family of birds, which includes gray catbirds and northern mockingbirds.  These thrashers raise young in open-cup cradles built of twigs and grass and placed in crotches of bushes in thickets of shrubbery and vines on the edges of woods and in woodland clearings.  

     Brown thrashers are the largest of these look-alike bird species, and have long legs and feet for fast running across the ground when chasing food or avoiding danger.  They might be roadrunners in the making.  Males sing lovely songs of their own from treetops, but also mimic sounds they hear.  And these beautiful birds winter in the southern United States.     

     These look-alike birds of three kinds are similar in appearance because they share a common habitat. Their brown feathering on top allows them to blend into the brown of dead, fallen leavers on the woodland floors they inhabit.  And the dark streaking on their bellies breaks up their shapes, which also makes them difficult to see.  Each habitat on Earth molds the wildlife in it to be proficient in that habitat, including being camouflaged to be nearly invisible in it, which can extend their life spans.