Yellow-legged thrush
| Yellow-legged thrush | |
|---|---|
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| Adult male in São Paulo, Brazil | |
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| Adult female in São Paulo, Brazil | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Family: | Turdidae |
| Genus: | Turdus (disputed) |
| Species: | T. flavipes |
| Binomial name | |
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Turdus flavipes (Vieillot, 1818) |
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| Synonyms | |
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Platycichla flavipes (Vieillot, 1818) (but see text) |
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Platycichla flavipes (Vieillot, 1818) (but see text)
The yellow-legged thrush (Turdus flavipes) is a songbird of northern and eastern South America. In recent times, it is increasingly often placed in the genus Turdus again, however some taxonomists place this species in the genus Platycichla based on morphology. The South American Classification Committee of the American Ornithologists' Union places it in the genus Turdus, as does the International Ornithological Committee.
This thrush is 22–23 cm (8.7–9.1 in) long and weighs 55–70 g (1.9–2.5 oz). Both sexes have yellow legs and eye-ring. The male has a yellow bill and its plumage is usually black with a slate-grey back and lower underparts. However, the hue of the grey areas varies, and the male of one of the five subspecies, P. f. xanthoscelus of Tobago, is all-black, resembling the male Eurasian blackbird (Turdus merula). Females have a dull bill, warm brown upperparts and paler underparts. The juvenile male is brownish with black wings and tail, while the juvenile female resemble the adult female, but is duller, flecked with orange above and spotted and barred with dark brown below.
The song of the male is musical phrases, sreep, sreee, sree, sreee, again somewhat resembling that of the Eurasian blackbird, but sometimes including some imitation of other birds songs. The typical call is a sharp srip and a peculiar seeet given in alarm.
It has a highly disjunct distribution. One population breeds in northern Colombia, Venezuela, far northern Brazil, Trinidad, and Tobago, as well as parts of the Pakaraima Mountains in western Guyana (including as it seems Mount Roraima). A second population occurs in eastern Brazil, eastern Paraguay, and far northeastern Argentina. The Argentine subpopulation is partially migratory, being resident in the northern part, while southernmost breeders spend the Austral winter further north. Some populations in northern South America also take part in local movements, but these are not well understood.
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Wikipedia