It is not very closely related to the other North American migrant species of Catharus, but rather to the Mexican russet nightingale-thrush.

[citation needed] Hermit thrushes breed in coniferous or mixed woods across Canada, southern Alaska, and the northeastern and western United States.

Hermit thrushes forage on the forest floor, as well as in trees or shrubs, mainly eating insects and berries.

The hermit thrush's song[9] has been described as "the finest sound in nature"[10] and is ethereal and flute-like, consisting of a beginning note, then several descending musical phrases in a minor key, repeated at different pitches.

A hermit thrush appears in the fifth section ("What the Thunder Said") of the T. S. Eliot poem The Waste Land.