By Allison Byrd and Pamela Hunt
The flutelike “ee-o-lay” song of the wood thrush (Hylocichla mustelina) remains a familiar sound in hardwood forests east of the Great Plains, but over the last 50 years it has become far less common. Wood thrush populations in the United States and Canada have declined by more than 50 percent since 1970, and the bird is a flagship species for the decline of migratory birds.
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