 Breeding evidence |
 Relative abundance |
 Probability of observation |
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Click on plot to view table of mean abundance
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Number of squares
Long-term BBS trends
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Mean abundance (number of birds detected per 5 min. point count) and percentage of squares occupied by region Bird Conservation Regions [abund. plot]
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Atlas Results
Swainson's Thrush were common throughout the boreal and taiga forests, including the more heavily forested portions of the Boreal Transition, and are local elsewhere. Although they were reported from 493 squares, their penchant for nesting in dense understory resulted in only seven squares reporting confirmed breeding. In both the probability of observation and relative abundance maps, the uplands around Cree Lake and along the McFarlane River to Lake Athabasca stand out as an area with relatively few Swainson's Thrush. The area is dominated by sandy soil uplands, open canopy jack pine (Pinus banksiana) forest, as well as some recent burns and likely contains little preferred habitat.
Excerpts Adapted from the Birds of Saskatchewan:
On its northern breeding grounds it is "perhaps best known by its flutelike, upwardly spiralling song that lingers well into the fading summer twilight? (Evans Mack and Yong 2000). It is the most frequently seen of the migrant thrushes in southern Saskatchewan. Widely distributed across the boreal forest from Alaska to Newfoundland and south through the western US mountains the Swainson's Thrush winters in Central and northwestern South America.
Swainson's prefers forests with a heavier understory of rose and alder thickets than does the Hermit Thrush, whether in coniferous or deciduous forest types (Smith 1996). The highest breeding density recorded in Saskatchewan was near Doré Lake (51 territories/100 ha) in a mature plot dominated by conifers with a balsam fir and alder understory. On migration this thrush occurs in all types of wooded habitat.
The Swainson's Thrush is a fairly common summer resident in the subarctic and northern boreal regions and a common breeding bird in the southern boreal region and Cypress Hills. In the parklands it is an uncommon and local breeder (Smith 1996). To the south it is a common migrant. At Last Mountain Bird Observatory, fall numbers (1992-2010) have increased at a rate of 11.9% per year (ARS).
Original text by Kim Clark. Text adapted by Daniel J. Sawatzky
Read more about the Swainson's Thrush in the Birds of Saskatchewan here.
Recommended citation: Latremouille, L. M. 2025. Swainson's Thrush in Latremouille, L. M., S. L. Van Wilgenburg, C. B. Jardine, D. Lepage, A. R. Couturier, D. Evans, D. Iles, and K. L. Drake (eds.). 2025. The Atlas of the Breeding Birds of Saskatchewan, 2017-2021. Birds Canada. Saskatoon, Saskatchewan https://sk.birdatlas.ca/accounts/speciesaccount.jsp?sp=SWTH&lang=en [14 Nov 2025]
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