This photo looks OK for Hermit Thrush. Thrushes can be tough, considering their similar plumage and tendencies to stay hidden in the shadowy thickets. Keep in mind we also can potentially have migrants of unusual subspecies - dark Veery, russet-backed Swainson's, etc., which could make things more challenging. We used to get hundreds of Swainson's Thrushes in spring and fall migration back in NCTX, with Gray-cheeked being outnumbered probably 50:1 or 100:1. Gray-cheeked, after seeing enough, become pretty distinctive in the different appearance of the face. Gray-cheeked typically doesn't really have an "eye-ring" per se, but more of a lack of eyering. Let me put it this way, a lack of pale orbital ring in the frontal half, and a semblance of an eyering on the rear half, being pronounced as a pale 'teardrop' behind the eye - think Cordilleran/PacSlope Flycatcher, but less pronounced. Hermit Thrush seems to be somewhat in between Swainson's (usually buffy complete eyering) and Gray-cheeked (incomplete, teardrop to the rear) with Hermit being a simple eyering, like in this photo. Oft times Hermit would throw a wrench in the gears because of it's 'middle of the road' facial pattern - but time-of-year, and of course a view of the rusty tail would typically solve that. Now Bicknell's Thrush.... good luck with that one. Derek Hill Milliken
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