cultural differences in populations of hermit thrush?

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Hermit thrush in this area seem to be very shy birds, not a bird you
tend to find running across your lawn (at least, not running across MY
lawn).

Last December, I visited the central coast area of California. The
hermit thrush there were not in the least shy. One place where they were
very common, and very obvious, was Montana de Oro park. I saw more
hermit thrush in one morning than I've seen over several years in Md.
Most were in the open field area of a campground that backed onto a
fairly extensive woods. The birds were not at all skittish. Generally,
they didn't fly until you were within 20-30 feet or so of them, and then
they usually just flew off a little way and returned when you had
passed.

They behaved very like robins do here, running across the ground,
stopping in a head-up, tail-down posture to look around.

Is this behavioral difference due to a difference in available food
supply, or is there a real "cultural" difference between different
populations of this bird?

Jack Saba

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