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Malabar Whistling Thrush - BirdForum Opus

Myophonus horsfieldii
Photo © by Alok Tewari
River Savitri, Mahabaleshwar, Altitude 4710 feet, Western Ghats, District Satara, Maharashtra, India, 30 December 2024

Identification

25cm long, dark blue with a black head and back. Bright blue patches on shoulders and forehead. The juvenile has browner plumage and lack the blue forehead.

Distribution

Peninsular India.

Taxonomy

This is a monotypic species.

Photo © by Jugal Tiwari
Location: Pachmarhi hills, Madhya Pradesh, India

Habitat

Dark undergrowth and dense riverine forest.

Behaviour

Diet

Diet includes insects, frogs, earthworms and berries.

Breeding

The nest is a cup made of moss, bamboo roots and grass, with a broad base and tapering towards the top, pasted on to the rock with mud. 2-4 3ggs are laid.

Vocalisation

True whistlers, giving a whistle that is called eerily human like, so deliberate sounding in character and timber.
They give sharp, brief and sonorous calls, while communicating and moving through the forest undergrowth. One such call is heard in the recording below:

Recording by Alok Tewari
Savitri River, Mahabaleshwar, Western Ghats, altitude 4710, District Satara, Maharashtra, India, 30 December 2024 ... 8.29 am.

References

  1. Clements, James F. 2007. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to October 2007. Ithaca: Cornell University Press. ISBN 9780801445019

External Links


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