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Grey-backed thrush or female Japanese thrush - Daejeon, South Korea, July 2021 (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter sandwich311
- Start date
The yellow gape and the white spotting on the back mean it is a juvenile. The bill is black, so I think not either of the birds you mention, which I think even juvenile would have a yellowish bill.
I think it's a young (this year) Brown-headed Thrush. A book I have (on differntiation) shows a bird exactly like yours.
The top comment which points to the bill says, "It [ Juvenile Brown-headed] resembles a female Japanese Thrush, but the bill is black, not yellow.
I think it's a young (this year) Brown-headed Thrush. A book I have (on differntiation) shows a bird exactly like yours.
The top comment which points to the bill says, "It [ Juvenile Brown-headed] resembles a female Japanese Thrush, but the bill is black, not yellow.
Last edited:
johnallcock
Well-known member
An interesting bird. As MacNara has stated, it's a juvenile (with yellow gape, white spots on upperparts, white mottling on face). It looks like Grey-backed and Pale are the only thrushes regularly breeding in Korea. I'm not familiar with juvenile thrushes in the region, so this is based on online photos rather than personal experience.
Structurally, it looks like Grey-backed or Japanese to me. It looks like quite a compact, large-headed bird, whereas other species tend to look (to me) bulky-bodied and small-headed. The greyish tail would also seem to favour Grey-backed or Japanese and rule out most Asian species.
My immediate thought was that it looks like Japanese, with the extensive spotting of the underparts and orange restricted to the flanks. Females of Grey-backed usually have spotting restricted only to the throat and upper breast and extensive orange on the underparts. But checking online photos it looks like the spotting of juveniles is not the same as adults - juvenile Grey-backed seems to have more extensive spotting on the underparts than adults, while Japanese looks like it has larger spots/mottled underparts. (Note that both species do have a black bill as juveniles).
On balance I think this is a juvenile Grey-backed (probably male given the grey tones to the tail).
Juvenile Grey-backed:
macaulaylibrary.org
macaulaylibrary.org
macaulaylibrary.org
Juvenile Japanese:
macaulaylibrary.org
macaulaylibrary.org
Structurally, it looks like Grey-backed or Japanese to me. It looks like quite a compact, large-headed bird, whereas other species tend to look (to me) bulky-bodied and small-headed. The greyish tail would also seem to favour Grey-backed or Japanese and rule out most Asian species.
My immediate thought was that it looks like Japanese, with the extensive spotting of the underparts and orange restricted to the flanks. Females of Grey-backed usually have spotting restricted only to the throat and upper breast and extensive orange on the underparts. But checking online photos it looks like the spotting of juveniles is not the same as adults - juvenile Grey-backed seems to have more extensive spotting on the underparts than adults, while Japanese looks like it has larger spots/mottled underparts. (Note that both species do have a black bill as juveniles).
On balance I think this is a juvenile Grey-backed (probably male given the grey tones to the tail).
Juvenile Grey-backed:
ML470624161 Gray-backed Thrush Macaulay Library
Macaulay Library ML470624161; © Christopher Adler; Kyongsangbuk-do, South Korea
ML470624171 Gray-backed Thrush Macaulay Library
Macaulay Library ML470624171; © Christopher Adler; Kyongsangbuk-do, South Korea
ML377913891 Gray-backed Thrush Macaulay Library
Macaulay Library ML377913891; © Nikolay Loginov; Khabarovsk Krai, Russia
Juvenile Japanese:
ML378743781 Japanese Thrush Macaulay Library
Macaulay Library ML378743781; © Jonathan Martinez; Hunan, China
ML378743831 Japanese Thrush Macaulay Library
Macaulay Library ML378743831; © Jonathan Martinez; Hunan, China
sandwich311
Well-known member
Thanks ever so much for the detailed replies. Juveniles are often tricky to ID but those photos look just like the one I saw with the extensive spotting.
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