In late autumn and winter in the interior, it also occurs from the valley bottoms to about 1,500 m elevation, where it forages on berries and fruits. On the coast in winter, most birds are found at elevations ketween sea level and 600 m. In all seasons, the Townsend's Solitaire is a bird of broken country or open forest, often with sparsely vegetated hillsides. Low shrubs, such as common juniper, soopolallie, kinnikinnick, or grouseberry, are frequently present. The Townsend's Solitaire avoids dense forest both on the coast and in the interior.
Migrants appear to move across a broad front from the coast to the Rocky Mountains.
Spring migrants arrive in the south, both on the coast and in the interior, mainly from early April to early May, peaking on the coast in the third week of April and in the Okanagan valley as early as the second week of April. Autumn migrants probably move southward mainly at higher elevations along ridges and peaks, but the extent of the high-elevation movement remains to be determined. In northern areas, the autumn migration begins in mid-August, and most birds are gone by mid to late September. In central and southern regions, birds appear to begin leaving the area as early as July, with most birds gone by September and early October. In the Southern Interior Mountains and Southern Interior, there is an abrupt increase in October and November, respectively.