Catharus fuscescens

Formerly placed in genus hylocichla (AOU 1983).

Large nesting range in North America; small winter range in Brazil; overall, population evidently is large but undergoing a steady decline, possibly due to habitat loss in wintering and breeding areas. Ranks needs further review; NatureServe rank calculator version 6.2 yielded a rank of G4.

Nesting range extends from southern British Columbia across southern Canada to Nova Scotia and southwestern Newfoundland, south to central Oregon, Colorado, South Dakota, southern Great Lakes region, and New Jersey, and in the Appalachians to northern Georgia; also east-central Arizona and probably northern New Mexico (Moskoff 1995, AOU 1998).

Winter range may be restricted to three small areas in south-central and southeastern Brazil, at the periphery of or south of the Amazon basin (Remsen 2001). Formerly the species was thought to winter in South America from Guyana, northern Venezuela, and eastern Colombia to Amazonian Brazil and northern Bolivia (Cochabamba and Santa Cruz) (a few records from Peru and Chile) (Hilty and Brown 1986, Ridgely and Tudor 1989, Moskoff 1995).

Range extent score reflects nonbreeding range.

This species is represented by a very large number of occurrences (subpopulations).

Declines presumably are due to loss of habitat, both on the breeding and wintering ranges. The fact that the winter range is likely restricted to three small areas in Brazil where habitat loss is occurring is of great concern (Remsen 2001). In the nesting range, forest fragmentation may lead to increased parasitism by brown-headed cowbird (Bevier et al. 2005), but the population impact of this needs further study. Increased browsing of forest understory vegetation by growing populations of white-tailed deer may be a threat to nesting habitat, but this needs confirmation (Bevier et al. 2005).