The enchanting, spiraling notes of a Veery's liquid song recall long golden twilights in summer forests, shaded streams lined with ferns and wildflowers, and quiet woodland paths. A quick glimpse of this superlative singer reveals a plain, unassuming brown and white bird, a bit smaller than a Wood Thrush.   

Like the Wood Thrush, the Veery is a uniform reddish-brown above. It differs from that species by its plain buffy-white underside and grayish flanks, with minimal light brown spotting on its upper breast. (Wood Thrush are heavily spotted below). The Veery's long legs are light pink. Males and females look alike.

The Veery is a species of thrush belonging to a group of talented songsters that includes the Hermit, Swainson's, Gray-cheeked and Bicknell's Thrushes. Their genus name, Catharus, derives from the Greek word katharos, which means “pure,” likely referring to the songs of this particularly tuneful group of birds. 

The Veery's lovely song had special meaning for a particularly important conservation champion. This thrush was one of the favorite bird species of Rachel Carson, the scientist and nature writer whose groundbreaking book Silent Spring exposed the fatal effects of pesticides on the natural world, and birds in particular. Ms. Carson shared a love of this bird with her close friend, Dorothy Freeman, and the two often referred to the Veery in their letters to one another.

"The song of the Veery is one of the most magical and exquisite in the bird world. It is an ethereal downward spiral of flutey notes with an echoing, ventriloquial quality."

– Frank Chapman, Bird Life (1897)

The Veery's beautiful song is often given from a low and hidden perch. Its most common call is a harsh, descending veer, which gives this bird its name.

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Once considered monogamous, research has shown that Veeries of both sexes can have multiple mates, although males probably establish an initial pair bond with a one female. Even though a male will closely guard his mate as she nest-builds and broods, both sexes usually end up engaging in extra-pair copulations. Multiple male Veeries may father a clutch and help to feed the chicks, sometimes bringing food to multiple nests at the same time.

Male Veeries arrive on the breeding grounds first. Initially, they treat newly-arriving females as intruders and chase them away. Eventually the male's aggressive chases turn into elaborate courtship flights, he accepts a female into his territory, and the two form a breeding pair. 

The female Veery chooses a well-hidden nest site on or less than five feet from the ground. She then constructs a bulky, three-layered nest, first gathering an outer layer of large leaves, which serves as a nest platform, then weaving an inner cup of grapevine bark, weed stems, and other stringy material. She finishes her nest with an inner lining of rootlets and soft fungi. 

An average Veery clutch numbers 3-5 blue-green eggs. The female incubates alone for almost two weeks until hatching. Both parent birds feed the naked, blind chicks, which grow quickly and leave the nest in 10-12 days. Fledglings stay close to their parents for two more weeks before dispersing from their home territory. This thrush's nests are often parasitized by Brown-headed Cowbirds.

Veeries feed on insects and fruit, with a higher concentration of protein-rich insect prey during the breeding season. They forage mostly on the ground, but will sometimes glean through vegetation and flycatchers. The Veery hops along the forest floor in search of prey, foraging low in the vegetation or along the ground. Sometimes it pokes at decaying logs and flips over leaves and stones in search of insects.

Veeries breed in moist deciduous and mixed coniferous/deciduous second-growth woodlands with dense understory, usually near water. They may occur in a variety of woodland types including red maple swamps, spruce and fir forests, or alder/aspen woods. They may also nest in moist, dense riparian thickets of alder, willow or cottonwood saplings along mountain waterways. 

The Veery breeds across North America, from southern British Columbia east to Newfoundland and south to Arizona, South Dakota, Minnesota, New Jersey, and in the Appalachian Mountains south to northern Georgia. 

This thrush winters in similar habitats in South America, initially settling in Brazil's lowland forests. Halfway through the winter, Veeries make another, more widespread migration to additional overwintering sites in northern Brazil, southern Venezuela, Guyana and Suriname. Some move south into Bolivia.

Veeries are long-distance migrants and will cross the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea during their spring and fall migrations.

Forest loss and fragmentation are major threats at all stages of the Veery's life cycle. The destruction of forests for agriculture, development, and dam-building are particular threats on its wintering grounds in southern Brazil.

As nocturnal migrants, Veeries are often the victims of fatal collisions with communications towers, wind turbines, and other manmade structures. 

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Forest fragmentation allows Brown-headed Cowbirds to easily parasitize Veery nests and allows predators such as snakes, chipmunks, and cats easier access to nests as well. Overabundant White-tailed Deer destroy the thick understory that Veery need to breed successfully, and invasive plants replace native forest groundcover. 

ABC is working with partners across the Americas to meet the variety of challenges facing the Veery and other neotropical migrants.

ABC continues work with U.S. partners to restore forest habitats and diversity, including enhancing early successional forests favored by Veery and other declining bird species such as the Golden-winged Warbler. We are also working to identify and protect tropical habitats that are important stopover habitats for neotropical bird species such as the Veery.

ABC's Collisions programs offer solutions to keep migrating birds safer.

Policies enacted by the U.S. Congress and federal agencies, such as the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, have a huge impact on migratory birds. You can help shape these rules for the better by telling lawmakers to prioritize birds, bird habitat, and bird-friendly measures. To get started, visit ABC's Action Center.

Living a bird-friendly life can have an immediate impact on migratory birds in the United States. Doing so can be as easy as adding native plants to your garden, avoiding pesticides, and keeping cats indoors. To learn more, visit our Bird-Friendly Life page.

American Bird Conservancy and our Migratory Bird Joint Venture partners have improved conservation management on more than 8.5 million acres of U.S. bird habitat — an area larger than the state of Maryland — over the last ten years. That's not all: With the help of international partners, we've established a network of more than 100 areas of priority bird habitat across the Americas, helping to ensure that birds' needs are met during all stages of their lifecycles. These are monumental undertakings, requiring the support of many, and you can help by making a gift today.