Island thrush
| Island thrush | |
|---|---|
 |
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| T. p. carbonarius, New Guinea | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Family: | Turdidae |
| Genus: | Turdus |
| Species: | T. poliocephalus |
| Binomial name | |
|
Turdus poliocephalus Latham, 1801 |
|
| Subspecies | |
|
(see text) |
|
(see text)
The island thrush (Turdus poliocephalus) is a common forest bird in the thrush family. Almost 50 subspecies have been described, ranging from Taiwan, through South East Asia and Melanesia, to Samoa, exhibiting great differences in plumage. Several subspecies are threatened and three have already become extinct.
The island thrush is a member of the cosmopolitan genus Turdus (Linnaeus, 1758), one of the most widely distributed bird genera in the world. The taxonomy of the island thrush is complex, and has defied attempts to split the group based on the four suspected morphological types. The subspecies Turdus poliocephalus niveiceps from Taiwan represents the most distinct taxon and may be a separate species. This subspecies lives at the northerly range of the species, and is the only one in which the males and females differ in colour. There are also thought to be at least two further subspecies not yet described scientifically, both from the Indonesian island of Sulawesi.
The list below is sorted alphabetically.
The island thrush is widely but patchily distributed across its range. It is present on islands in Samoa, Fiji, Vanuatu, New Caledonia, the Solomon Islands, New Guinea and surrounding islands, many Indonesian islands, the Philippines, and Taiwan. However, it is restricted to areas with bird communities of less than 25–35 species. On the larger islands (like Borneo or New Guinea) this means that it is only found at high altitudes, above 2750 m. Smaller islands can only support much smaller bird communities, and on these the island thrush may be found at lower altitudes. Two or more subspecies may exist on some islands, segregated into different habitats. The ranges of many subspecies may be as small as a single island—for example the Kadavu subspecies T. p. ruficeps.
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