Western Hermit Thrush

When I took the first photo, I knew I had an odd-plumaged Hermit Thrush. Erika and I spent the morning listing birds for eBird’s Worldwide 6 October Bird Count. We found this bird at the boat ramp on the southwest shore of Lake Byllesby in Goodhue County, Minnesota. This bird’s russet tail confirms that it is, indeed, a Hermit Thrush. Unlike the Eastern Hermit Thrushes (Catharus guttatus faxoni)  so abundant in Minnesota. the bird we found lacked the buffy wash usually seen in Minnesota birds—see the bottom photo bird banded this morning (7 October) in Northfield. Furthermore, yesterday’s bird is clearly paler gray than the darker bird I just banded. My best guess on the identity of the pale Hermit Thrush is Audubon's Hermit Thrush (Catharus guttatus auduboni), which breeds in the Rocky Mountain of the United States and winters from Mexico to Central America. (Other pale, western races breed further south and would, thus, seem less likely to stray to Minnesota. On the other hand, I am unaware of Minnesota records of Audubon’s Hermit Thrushes.)