• BirdForum is the net's largest birding community dedicated to wild birds and birding, and is absolutely FREE!

    Register for an account to take part in lively discussions in the forum, post your pictures in the gallery and more.

Abyssinian Thrush - BirdForum Opus

(Redirected from African Mountain Thrush)

Alternative names: African Mountain Thrush
The name "Mountain Thrush" has also been used for this species, a name which has been reserved for Turdus plebejus, the South American species of Mountain Thrush

Photo by JWN Andrewes
Fairview Hotel, Nairobi, Kenya, June 2006
Turdus abyssinicus

Identification

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

Similar Species

Kurrichane Thrush brighter orange eye-ring and bill; distinct black malar stripes; white centre of belly, paler upper-parts.

Distribution

Common resident the highlands from Eastern Africa.

Taxonomy

Formerly considered conspecific with Olive Thrush, Karoo Thrush, Taita Thrush, Somali Thrush and Usambara Thrush.

Subspecies

There are 6 subspecies[1]:

Habitat

Forest, well-wooded areas, alien growth, parks and gardens.

Behaviour

Diet

Its diet consists of insects, molluscs, and spiders.

Breeding

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. The chicks fledge in another 16 days.

Vocalisation

Song short sweet phrases, without trilled quality of Kurrichane Thrush.

References

  1. Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2017. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2017, with updates to August 2017. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
  2. Avibase
  3. Wikipedia

Recommended Citation

External Links

Top