Great thrush
| Great thrush | |
|---|---|
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| Male | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Family: | Turdidae |
| Genus: | Turdus |
| Species: | T. fuscater |
| Binomial name | |
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Turdus fuscater D'Orbigny & Lafresnaye, 1837 |
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The great thrush (Turdus fuscater) is a species of bird in the family Turdidae. It is found in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela. It is considered as the largest thrush in South America. The great thrush's size distinguishes it from the several other uniform slaty-colored thrushes in its range. It inhabits subtropical or tropical moist montane forests and high-altitude shrubland, but can also make use of degraded forest and urban areas.
Seven subspecies are recognized:
Adults are 28–30 cm in length and weigh 128-75 g, making the species the largest thrush in South America. It can be easily identified by its yellowish-orange beak and legs and yellow ring around the eye. Slight sexual dimorphism is sometimes present, with males having more strongly coloured legs and eye rings. Tail feathers are long. The plumage is black-brown, darker on wings and tail and pale on the belly. Juveniles are predominantly greenish gray with a pale belly and some spots of buff colour on the head and wings. Subspecies show subtle differences in colouration, with T. f. ockendeni being the darkest one, followed by T. f. quindio and T .f. gigantodes. The palest subspecies are T. f. gigas, T. f. cacozelus and T. f. fuscater. Albinistic specimens are known to exist but very rare.
The species is a typical Andean highlands bird. Its range covers the Andes in western and northern Venezuela as far as Lara and Trujillo, the Andes of Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and finally, northwest Bolivia. It occurs at altitudes of 1800–4000 meters.
The great thrush makes use of a variety of habitats, including open forest, backyards, parks, and even farmland with scattered trees or forest remnants. It also occurs at the edges of different classes of Andean forests, including humid montane, secondary and temperate forests. It is more likely to be found at altitudes above 2000 m. The species tends to avoid dry conditions and densely forested areas, but sometimes occurs on the edges of Andean páramo or in shrublands. It commonly inhabits urban habitats in the highlands, e.g. in Quito and Bogota. Populations are generally sedentary.
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Wikipedia