Bluethroat

Overview

Bluethroat: Small thrush with brown upperparts, striking blue bib with rust-brown central spot, black and brown-orange bands across breast, thick white eyebrow, and white underparts. Tail is dark with rust-brown base. Rather swift, deliberate direct flight on rapidly beating wings.

Range and Habitat

Bluethroat: Breeds in northwestern Alaska and Eurasia in marshy scrub around lakes and bogs. Spends winters mostly on salt mashes or around the edges of reed beds.

INTERESTING FACTS

As Siberian populations have increased with the recent warming trend, this species has been able to spread across the Bering Strait into Alaska.
The Bluethroat was formerly classed as a member of the thrush family, but is now more generally considered to be an Old World flycatcher. It, and similar small European species, are often called chats.
They were discovered on June 5, 1851 by Edward Adams, a surgeon and naturalist aboard the British ship Enterprise. He was traveling overland from Norton Sound to the Koupac River in northwestern Alaska.
A group of thrushes are collectively known as a "hermitage" and a "mutation" of thrushes.