Alternative name: Clay-colored Robin
- Turdus grayi
Identification
23–26.5 cm (9-10.5 in)
- Brown
- Paler underparts, lighter flanks
- Streaked throat
- Greenish-yellow bill
- Pinkish (or flesh-colored) legs
- Red iris
Females a little larger than males
Distribution
North, Central and South America
North America: found only in Texas
Central America: Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua,
Costa Rica and Panama
South America: Colombia
South Texas, Mexico, northern Colombia, and Costa Rica.
Taxonomy
Subspecies
Nine subspecies are recognized[1]:
- T.g. tamaulipensis:
- T.g. microrhynchus:
- Eastern Mexico (Santa María del Río region of San Luis Potosí)
- T.g. lanyoni:
- Caribbean lowlands of eastern Mexico (eastern Tamaulipas south to northern Oaxaca and Tabasco) south to Honduras
- T.g. yucatanensis:
- southeastern Mexico (Yucatan Peninsula), and presumably also northern Belize
- T.g. linnaei:
- southern Mexico (southeastern Oaxaca and adjacent Chiapas, also interior of Chiapas) at least to the border with Guatemala
- T.g. grayi:
- Southern Mexico (southern Chiapas) and northwestern Guatemala
- T.g. megas:
- Western Guatemala to Nicaragua
- T.g. casius:
- Costa Rica to north-western Colombia (north-western Chocó)
- T.g. incomptus:
- Coastal northern Colombia (Barranquilla to Santa Marta Peninsula)
- T.g. suarezi:
- west central Colombia (Cauca Valley)
Subspecies incomptus along with lanyoni, yucatanensis and linnaei are not recognised by all authorities[3].
Habitat
Widespread in a variety of habitats including evergreen tropícal forests and forest edges, garden lawns, shrubs and pastures.
Behaviour
Diet
The diet includes fruit and invertebrates.
Breeding
Its nest is a cup made from grass, moss, and mud. 1-3 pale blue, red-brown and grey marked eggs are laid with the average above to, but it is only the rare pair that fledges more than two young. It sometimes produces 2 broods.
At the local level, singing is highly synchronized, but at the regional level, timing of breeding can vary between one location and the next.
References
- Clements, J. F., P. C. Rasmussen, T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, T. A. Fredericks, J. A. Gerbracht, D. Lepage, A. Spencer, S. M. Billerman, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2023. The eBird/Clements checklist of Birds of the World: v2023. Downloaded from https://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- Gill, F, D Donsker, and P Rasmussen (Eds). 2024. IOC World Bird List (v 14.2). Doi 10.14344/IOC.ML.14.2. http://www.worldbirdnames.org/
- Morton & Stutchbury (2001): Behavioral Ecology of Tropical Birds. Academic Press. ISBN 0-12-675556-6
- Wikipedia
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2025) Clay-colored Thrush. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 2 May 2025 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Clay-colored_Thrush
External Links
GSearch checked for 2020 platform.
