Red-and-black Thrush

Geokichla mendeni

A striking, little-known thrush with a largely jet black body except for a carmine red back, rump, and nape and a large white smudge on the cheeks.  Forages on the ground singly or in pairs inside lowland forest. Unmistakable in its restricted range on Peleng and Taliabu islands. Gives a typically complex song characteristic of thrushes, with fluty notes and whistles combined with burry phrases, repeated regularly. Call note is weak and barely audible: a very thin, high-pitched “seeep.”

Taxonomy

Scientific name
Geokichla mendeni
Authority
(Neumann, 1939)
Order
Passeriformes
Family
Turdidae
Genus
Geokichla

Range and habitat

Migration
Resident species

Conservation

Population trend
declining

Photos

Distribution

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