Birds
Veery
Catharus fuscescens · also called veeries
A haunting, downward-spiraling song drifts through a moist forest at dusk, two notes layered together into one impossible phrase, produced by a plain reddish-brown bird that most people will hear many times before ever managing to see.
Overview
The veery, Catharus fuscescens, is a subtly plumaged songbird native to moist deciduous and mixed forest habitat across much of Canada and the northern United States. Its ethereal, two-toned spiraling song, remarkably long migration to South America, and dependence on large, unbroken forest interior make it one of the more acoustically distinctive and ecologically sensitive thrushes in North America.
A voice built from two notes at once
By producing a slightly different pitch from each side of its syrinx simultaneously, the veery layers two tones into a single downward-spiraling phrase, a vocal trick shared with several close relatives but rarely appreciated for the genuine physiological feat it represents.
Status
Least Concern overall, though gradually declining in parts of its range as forest fragmentation on the breeding grounds and habitat loss along its long migratory route affect this forest-interior specialist.
Veery: common questions
How does the veery sing two notes at once?
Like several of its close thrush relatives, the veery has a two-sided vocal organ called a syrinx, and it can produce a slightly different pitch from each side simultaneously, layering the two tones together into the single, ethereal, downward-spiraling phrase that makes up its distinctive song, a technique impossible for a human voice to replicate.
How far does the veery migrate?
This species travels an impressively long distance for a small songbird, migrating from its breeding grounds across Canada and the northern United States all the way to Brazil and neighbouring parts of central South America for the winter, one of the longer migratory journeys undertaken by any North American thrush relative.
Why is the veery sensitive to forest fragmentation?
This species builds its nest on or very close to the ground within the interior of mature, moist deciduous forest, and smaller or fragmented forest patches expose that ground-level nest to considerably more predators and increased brood parasitism near forest edges, making the veery more dependent on large, unbroken tracts of forest than many other songbirds.
What does the veery's song sound like?
It produces a haunting, downward-spiraling series of flute-like notes, often described as one of the most beautiful and ethereal songs in North American forests, a quality enhanced by the bird's ability to layer two simultaneous pitches together using both sides of its syrinx at once.