About robin-sized and robin-shaped. Head and back brown, tail reddish, breast white with smudgy spots. Black eyes are ringed with white, but that is obvious only in closeup. Hunts on the ground, foraging through leaf litter for insects.

A winter bird for us, breeding in New York, New England and parts north. A woodland bird, but often wanders onto trails and into open areas along wood edges.

Other thrushes are similar but unlikely to be seen in our area in the winter. They either breed here in the summer or only pass through in migration.