We typically are looking up in the trees for feeding birds or gazing at the sky for hawks, eagles or swallows overhead. As you take your late spring or summer walks, look and listen for some birds that feed mainly on our woodlot or forest floors.

These “floor” birds include: the wood thrush, veery, hermit thrush, eastern towhee and ovenbird. Probably except for the hermit thrush, they all regularly breed in this area. The “hermit” occasionally nests in some northern reaches of the Times News coverage area. Until about mid-July, almost all of these are rather vocal each morning and announce their presence to you long before you even see them.

Sounds like the same story over and over, but many of these species’ numbers are dropping because of reduced wintering areas in the tropics. The hermit thrush and the towhees, even though not overly plentiful, overwinter mostly in southern North America. In fact, occasionally towhees and hermit thrushes may overwinter in this area. I have photographed hermit thrushes feeding on sumac berries in January, and once or twice I have had towhees visit my winter feeding stations.

If you live on the outskirts of a town or near some woodlands, your morning is probably graced by the flutelike song of the wood thrush. If you are not familiar with this song, go online and find a site that has songbird songs and listen to the wood thrush. You probably have heard it and paid no heed. Listen and enjoy.

The wood thrush is probably the only one of the five mentioned earlier that nests off the ground. It is also, unfortunately, one of the most common hosts for the cowbird’s eggs. Many wood thrushes become substitute parents for a cowbird chick (one of the reasons this thrush’s population is at risk). I have seen and heard quite a few this year and I hope it is a good sign. This thrush has a boldly spotted breast to help you identify it.

Two other thrush species can be found here: The veery and the hermit thrush. The veery is about the same size as the wood thrush but has a rather pale breast and a paler back. They, like the wood thrush, feed mostly on the forest floor but also nest there.

Hermit thrushes are rather common spring and fall migrants. Some do breed in this area. They too spend most of their lives feeding among the leaf-covered ground. A helpful tip to identify them is their habit of slowly raising their tail when they are perched.

Rounding out the common forest dwellers are the eastern towhee and a warbler species, the ovenbird. The towhee seems to be always scratching away the leaves to find its food (much like a chicken scratching). Its call sounds like “Drink your tea, drink your tea,” and also like its name, Tow hee, tow hee.

Meanwhile, the ovenbird, the smallest of the five, is quite a singer, too. It seems to want to compete with the wood thrush and lives and feeds much the same. Ovenbirds got their name from the “brick oven type nest” they build on the ground. Enjoy all as you “take in” the outdoors.

Test Your Outdoor Knowledge: The favorite host tree for our new introduced pest, the spotted lanternfly, is the: A. hemlock, B. white ash, C. tree of heaven, D. black walnut.

Last Week’s Trivia Answer: The Baltimore oriole’s nest is most successful hanging from a fork in thin branches of deciduous trees such as maples.

Contact Barry Reed at breed71@gmail.com.