From Opus

Turdus olivaceus

Photo by Mybs
Location: Cape Town, South Africa

Photo by Fanie Jordaan
subspecies smithii (Karoo Thrush)

Photo by JWN Andrewes
Location: Fairview Hotel, Nairobi, Kenya.
Subspecies abyssinicus (Mountian/Abyssinian Thrush)

Includes Karoo Thrush; Abyssinian Thrush

[edit] Identification

Length 24 cm. Upper-parts and upper chest dark olive grey-brown; throat white heavily streaked black; remainder of under-parts orange; vent white; bill and legs yellow; dark eye-ring.

[edit] Distribution

Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, The Gambia, the Cape of Good Hope and west to Angola.

[edit] Taxonomy

Some authorities split the Karoo Thrush (Turdus smithi) and Abyssinan Thrush (Turdus abyssinicus) from this species.

[edit] Habitat

Evergreen forests, parks, and gardens.

[edit] Behaviour

Its diet consists of insects, molluscs, and spiders.

It builds a cup nest, typically up to 6 m above the ground in a tree. The 2-3 blue eggs are incubated mainly by the female for 14-15 days to hatching, and the chick fledges in another 16 days.

The male's song is a mix of fluted, whistled and trilled phrases, but varies geographically. It occasionally mimics other birds.

[edit] External Links