Black-billed Thrush
Turdus ignobilis
A drab thrush, common in open habitats and woodlands in the lowlands but also wanders up into Andean foothills. Nondescript grayish-brown with a pale whitish belly. Note indistinct streaking on throat; some populations also show a white patch on chest. Sexes similar. Usually seen singly or in pairs. Conspicuous. Song is a typical thrushlike series of musical phrases.
Taxonomy
- Scientific name
- Turdus ignobilis
- Authority
- Sclater, PL, 1858
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Turdidae
- Genus
- Turdus
Range and habitat
The species is the most common Turdus thrush of disturbed habitats in western Amazonia and on the Guianan Shield, occurring in Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela, and Bolivia. It inhabits a variety of habitats including clearings, savannas with gallery woodland, cerrado, humid forest borders, coffee plantations, and various other habitats under anthropogenic influence.
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
The black-billed thrush feeds on terrestrial invertebrates (beetles and flies, worms, crickets and caterpillars) as well as berries and fruits. The bird inhabits the midstory of vegetation. It lays two eggs in a cup-shaped nest. Individuals are generally solitary.
Conservation
- Population trend
- stable
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Pied Butcherbird
Cracticus nigrogularis
Medium-sized ambush-hunter with a long gray bill with a dark, hooked tip. Adult has black head, upper breast, back, and tail that contrast starkly with white nape, breast, belly, and wing pattern. Immature similarly patterned in brown instead of black. More likely than Gray Butcherbird to perch atop trees and poles. Beautiful fluting, whistling song, sometimes heard at night.
Golden Palm Weaver
Ploceus bojeri
Breeding male is bright yellow with a mostly orange head. The female is duller, though still very yellow. Both sexes show a dark eye in all plumages. Found in coastal savanna and scrub, often in areas with abundant palms, and inland along rivers through dry country. Similar to African Golden-Weaver, and ranges overlap, but separated by the blackish rather than red eyes. Vocalizations are typical of weavers: “chet” notes and a sizzling “radio static” song.
Assam Laughingthrush
Trochalopteron chrysopterum
Shy skulker with golden wings and a long golden tail. Eastern populations in China have a gray head and orange crown, while western populations in far northeastern India and Myanmar have a dark rusty head. Forages on the ground in small flocks in dense brushy understory, sometimes with other laughingthrushes. Song is a repetitive series of inflected notes, including a wolf-whistle-like “whi’wi’er-wee!” and a shorter “whi’wi’eeer!”
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