Veery Catharus fuscescens
Flight call description Highly variable. Typically a low, burry, descending "vheeu". Sometimes a two-syllabled "veer-y" or a more monotone "vhee". Burriness becomes more pronounced toward the end of the call.
Fig.1. New York June (WRE).
Perched bird.
Similar species Distinctly lower-pitched than Gray-cheeked or Bicknell's Thrushes. Wood Thrush is more evenly buzzy throughout the call and tends to be more even-toned, though still typically descending. See Swainson's Thrush and thrush-like calls.
Behavior Primarily a nocturnal migrant. Diurnal onward migration occurs in spring in the Gulf coast region. Rarely seen in redetermined migration as this behavior apparently occurs to some degree prior to sunrise and may coincide with a characteristic early-dawn period of increased nocturnal flight call activity. Flight calls are given commonly in nocturnal migration and also in diurnal onward migration. Perched birds may give flight calls at any time during the day but they do so particularly around dawn and dusk.
Discussion See Kopman (1904) for an early account of deciphering the Veery's nocturnal flight call.