African Thrush - BirdForum Opus

Adult
Photo by Reini
Abuko,, The Gambia, November 2005

Turdus pelios

Identification

• Grey-brown body
• Greyish head
• Yellow bill
  

Sexes similar

Similar Species

Similar to the Olive Thrush which is found in denser forestry.

Distribution

Widespread throughout sub-Saharan Africa:
Western Africa: Senegambia, Senegal, The Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Mali, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Togo, Benin, Nigeria, Niger, Chad, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Congo, Angola
Eastern Africa: Sudan, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania, Zambia
African Islands: Gulf of Guinea Islands, Bioko (Fernando Po)

Immature
Photo by Reini
Senegambia hotel garden, The Gambia, November 2005

Taxonomy

There are ten subspecies;

Subspecies^[1]

• T. p. chiguancoides:

• Senegal to Gambia, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia and northern Ghana

• T. p. saturatus:

• Western Ghana to Cameroon, western Congo and Gabon

• T. p. pelios:

• Eastern Cameroon to southern Chad, southern Sudan, South Sudan (except extreme south), Eritrea, and northern and central Ethiopia

• T. p. adamauae:

• Northern Cameroon (Adamawa Plateau)

• T. p. nigrilorum:

• Highlands of Mount Cameroon

• T. p. poensis:

• Bioko (Gulf of Guinea)

• T. p. centralis:

• Southern Central African Republic and eastern Congo to northern Democratic Republic of the Congo, southern South Sudan, southern Ethiopia, Uganda, western Kenya, and northwestern Tanzania

• T. p. graueri:

• Extreme eastern DRC to Rwanda, Burundi and western Tanzania

• T. p. bocagei:

• Western Angola (Benguela highlands) to western Zaire

• T. p. stormsi:

• South-eastern DRC (Shaba) to north-eastern Angola and north-western Zambia

Habitat

Woodland, forest edge and close to cultivation.

Behaviour

Diet

The diet includes insects, earthworms and berries.

Breeding

They nest in bushes.

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
4. Kenya Birds

• List of references

Recommended Citation

• BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) African Thrush. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 8 October 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/African_Thrush

External Links

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