Dusky thrush

Last updated

Dusky thrush
Turdus eunomus -Japan-8.jpg
In Japan
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Turdidae
Genus: Turdus
Species:
T. eunomus
Binomial name
Turdus eunomus
Temminck, 1831

The dusky thrush (Turdus eunomus) is a member of the thrush family which breeds eastwards from central Siberia to Kamchatka wintering to Japan, South China and Myanmar. It is closely related to the more southerly breeding Naumann's thrush T. naumanni; the two have often been regarded as conspecific. The scientific name comes from Latin Turdus, "thrush" and Ancient Greek eunomos, "orderly". [2]

This species breeds in open woodland areas, but unlike Naumann's thrush, the dusky thrush is more tolerant of mountainous and tundra-edge habitats. This species is strongly migratory, wintering south to southeast Asia, principally in China and neighbouring countries. It is a rare vagrant to western Europe. [1] In December 2016 a sighting of one in the Derbyshire in the United Kingdom brought hundreds of birdwatchers to see it. [3] [4]

From Senchal Wildlife Sanctuary, Darjeeling, India. Dusky Thrush Senchal Wildlife Sanctuary Darjeeling West Bengal India 02.01.2018.jpg
From Senchal Wildlife Sanctuary, Darjeeling, India.

It nests in trees, laying 3-5 eggs in an untidy but neatly lined nest. Migrating birds and wintering birds often form small flocks. It is omnivorous, eating a wide range of insects, especially mosquitoes, earthworms and berries.

This is a medium-sized but stocky thrush, reminiscent in structure of a small fieldfare. The underwing is reddish brown, and there is a pale supercilium .

Dusky thrush has a dark brown back and rump; the face, breast, and flank spots rump are black and the belly and undertail are white. Naumann's thrush in comparison has a paler brown back and head; the face, breast, flank spots and rump are reddish, and the belly and undertail are white.

The female is fairly similar to the male, but immatures have a weaker patterning.

The male dusky thrush has a simple fluted or whistling song, similar to the redwing. There are suggestions that the songs of dusky and Naumann's thrush differ.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">American robin</span> Species of bird

The American robin is a migratory bird of the true thrush genus and Turdidae, the wider thrush family. It is named after the European robin because of its reddish-orange breast, though the two species are not closely related, with the European robin belonging to the Old World flycatcher family. The American robin is widely distributed throughout North America, wintering from southern Canada to central Mexico and along the Pacific Coast. It is the state bird of Connecticut, Michigan, and Wisconsin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ring ouzel</span> Species of birds mainly in Europe

The ring ouzel is a mainly European member of the thrush family Turdidae. It is a medium-sized thrush, 23–24 centimetres (9.1–9.4 in) in length and weighing 90–138 grams (3.2–4.9 oz). The male is predominantly black with a conspicuous white crescent across its breast. Females are browner and duller than males, and young birds may lack the pale chest markings altogether. In all but the northernmost part of its range, this is a high-altitude species, with three races breeding in mountains from Ireland east to Iran. It breeds in open mountain areas with some trees or shrubs, the latter often including heather, conifers, beech, hairy alpenrose or juniper. It is a migratory bird, leaving the breeding areas to winter in southern Europe, North Africa and Turkey, typically in mountains with juniper bushes. The typical clutch is 3–6 brown-flecked pale blue or greenish-blue eggs. They are incubated almost entirely by the female, with hatching normally occurring after 13 days. The altricial, downy chicks fledge in another 14 days and are dependent on their parents for about 12 days after fledging.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">African thrush</span> Species of bird

The African thrush or West African thrush is a passerine bird in the thrush family Turdidae. It is common in well-wooded areas over much of the western part of sub-Saharan Africa, it was once considered to be conspecific with the olive thrush but that species has now been split further. Populations are resident (non-migratory).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Orange-headed thrush</span> Species of bird

The orange-headed thrush is a bird in the thrush family.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fieldfare</span> Species of bird

The fieldfare is a member of the thrush family Turdidae. It breeds in woodland and scrub in northern Europe and across the Palearctic. It is strongly migratory, with many northern birds moving south during the winter. It is a very rare breeder in Great Britain & Ireland, but winters in large numbers in the United Kingdom, Southern Europe, North Africa and the Middle East. It is omnivorous, eating a wide range of molluscs, insects and earthworms in the summer, and berries, grain and seeds in the winter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Isabelline wheatear</span> Species of bird

The isabelline wheatear is a small passerine bird that was formerly classed as a member of the thrush family Turdidae, but is now more generally considered to be an Old World flycatcher in the family Muscicapidae. It is a migratory insectivorous bird. Its habitat is steppe and open countryside and it breeds in southern Russia and Central Asia to northern Pakistan, wintering in Africa and northwestern India. It is a very rare vagrant to western Europe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Desert wheatear</span> Species of bird

The desert wheatear is a wheatear, a small passerine bird that was formerly classed as a member of the thrush family Turdidae, but is now more generally considered to be an Old World flycatcher (Muscicapidae). It is a migratory insectivorous species, 14.5 to 15 cm in length. Both western and eastern forms of the desert wheatear are rare vagrants to western Europe. The western desert wheatear breeds in the Sahara and the northern Arabian peninsula. The eastern race is found in the semi-deserts of Central Asia and in winter in Pakistan and northeast Africa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eyebrowed thrush</span> Species of bird

The eyebrowed thrush is a member of the thrush family Turdidae. The scientific name comes from Latin Turdus, "thrush" and obscurus "dark".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blue rock thrush</span> Species of bird

The blue rock thrush is a species of chat. This thrush-like Old World flycatcher was formerly placed in the family Turdidae. It breeds in southern Europe, northwest Africa, and from Central Asia to northern China and Malaysia. The blue rock thrush is the official national bird of Malta and was shown on the Lm 1 coins that were part of the country's former currency.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">White-necked thrush</span> Species of bird

The white-necked thrush is a songbird found in forest and woodland in South America. The taxonomy is potentially confusing, and it sometimes includes the members of the T. assimilis group as subspecies, in which case the "combined species" is referred to as the white-throated thrush. On the contrary, it may be split into two species, the rufous-flanked thrush and the grey-flanked thrush.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">African firefinch</span> Species of bird

The African firefinch, also called the dark firefinch or blue-billed firefinch due to the color of its bill, is a common species of estrildid finch found in almost all parts of Africa. It has an estimated global extent of occurrence of 5,400,000 km2 (2,100,000 sq mi).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hooded mannikin</span> Species of bird

The hooded mannikin or hooded munia, also known as the New Britain mannikin or Sclater's mannikin, is a species of estrildid finch found in New Britain and New Guinea.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dark-sided flycatcher</span> Species of bird

The dark-sided flycatcher is a small passerine bird belonging to the genus Muscicapa in the Old World flycatcher family Muscicapidae. It has a wide breeding distribution in the East Palearctic with northern birds migrating south for the winter. It is also known as the Siberian flycatcher or sooty flycatcher, the latter name is also used for the sooty flycatcher of Africa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rufous-tailed palm thrush</span> Species of bird

The rufous-tailed palm thrush is a species of bird in the family Muscicapidae.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pale thrush</span> Species of bird

The pale thrush is a passerine bird of the eastern Palearctic belonging to the genus Turdus in the thrush family Turdidae. It is closely related to the eye-browed thrush and grey-backed thrush.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Comoros thrush</span> Species of bird

The Comoros thrush is a species of bird in the family Turdidae. It is found in the Comoros Islands in the south western Indian Ocean.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Japanese thrush</span> Species of bird

The Japanese thrush is a species of bird in the thrush family Turdidae. The species is also known as the grey thrush or the Japanese grey thrush. The species was once split into two subspecies, with birds breeding in China being treated as the subspecies T. c. lateus,, but today differences are attributed to natural variation and the species is treated as being monotypic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rufous-backed thrush</span> Species of bird

The rufous-backed thrush is a songbird of the thrush family. It is endemic to the Pacific slope of Mexico. It is also known as the rufous-backed robin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Naumann's thrush</span> Species of bird

Naumann's thrush is a member of the thrush family Turdidae which breeds eastwards from central Siberia to North Manchuria, Amurland and Sakhalin. It is closely related to the more northerly breeding dusky thrush T. eunomus; the two have often been regarded as conspecific.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Black-throated thrush</span> Species of bird

The black-throated thrush is a passerine bird in the thrush family. It is sometimes regarded as one subspecies of a polytypic species, "dark-throated thrush", red-throated thrush then being the other subspecies. More recent treatments regard the two as separate species.

References

  1. 1 2 BirdLife International (2016). "Turdus eunomus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2016: e.T22736111A104201968. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22736111A104201968.en . Retrieved 19 November 2021.
  2. Jobling, James A (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names . London: Christopher Helm. pp.  152, 393. ISBN   978-1-4081-2501-4.
  3. Amateur's ultra-rare sighting of Siberian dusky thrush brings hundreds of birdwatchers to Derbyshire village December 6, 2016 The Telegraph Retrieved February 19, 2017
  4. Birdwatchers in Beeley to see 'very rare' dusky thrush December 6, 2016 BBC Retrieved February 19, 2017