Habitat
Forests from sea level to alpine (Armstrong 2008). In Alaska, occurs in wet coastal forests of southeast and taiga forests of north central and eastern Alaska. Found in spruce forests, deciduous (balsam poplar and dense alder stands), and mixed forests (Kessel 1989, Kessel 1998, George 2000). Thick, wet (although occurs in some drier areas of the taiga), shady, mossy forests and deciduous shrub and thickets. Also found beyond the forest taiga, in dense alder thickets, and isolated cottonwood patches (Kessel 1998). May forage in open tundra (Kaufman 1996, Armstrong 1995).
References
Armstrong, R. H. 1995. Guide to the birds of Alaska, 4th ed. Alaska Northwest Books, Anchorage, AK. 322 pp.
Armstrong, R. H. 2008. Guide to the birds of Alaska. 5th edition. Alaska Northwest Books, Anchorage, AK. 360 pp.
George, T. L. 2000. Varied Thrush (Ixoreus naevius). In The Birds of North America, No. 541 (A. Poole and F. Gill, Eds.). Philadelphia: The Academy of Natural Sciences; Washington, D.C.: The American Ornithologists’ Union.
Kaufman, K. 1996. Lives of North American Birds. Houghton Mifflin, New York. 675 pp.
Kessel, B. 1989. Birds of the Seward Peninsula, Alaska: their biogeography, seasonality, and natural history. Univ. of Alaska Press, Fairbanks, AK. 330 pp.
Kessel, B. 1998. Habitat characteristics of some passerine birds in western North American taiga. University of Alaska Press, Fairbanks, AK.
