Sooty Thrush
A species of True thrushes Scientific name : Turdus nigrescens Genus : True thrushes
Sooty Thrush, A species of True thrushes
Botanical name: Turdus nigrescens
Genus: True thrushes
Content
Description General Info
Photo By Joseph C Boone , used under CC-BY-SA-3.0 /Cropped and compressed from original
Description
The sooty thrush (Turdus nigrescens) is a large thrush endemic to the highlands of Costa Rica and western Panama. It was formerly known as the sooty robin. This is an abundant bird of open areas and oak forest edge normally above 2200 m altitude. It builds a heavy grass-lined cup nest in a tree 2–8 m above the ground, and the female lays two unmarked greenish-blue eggs between March and May. The sooty thrush resembles other Turdus thrushes in general appearance and habits. It is 24–25.5 cm long, and weighs 96 g on average. The adult male is brownish-black with black wings and tail, and a black area between the orange bill and the eye. The legs and bare eye ring are orange and the iris is pale grey. The female is similar but browner and somewhat paler, and has yellow-orange bare parts. The juvenile resembles the adult female but has buff or orange streaks on the head and upperparts and dark spotting on the underparts. Two superficially similar relatives share this species' range. The mountain thrush is uniformly brown with dark bare parts, and the clay-colored robin is much paler and yellow-billed. The sooty thrush behaves like other thrushes such as the American robin. It forages on the ground, singly or in pairs, progressing in hops and dashes with frequent stops. It turns leaf litter seeking insects and spiders, and also eats small fruits, especially Ericaceae and Solanum. The breeding season song is a gurgling squeaky chuweek chuweek seechrrzit seechrrzit seechrrzit seechrrzit tseeur tseeur tseeur tseeur, and the call is a grating grrrrkk.
Size
26 cm
Feeding Habits
Sooty Thrush consumes a varied diet including insects, spiders, berries from Ericaceae, Solanum, and melastomes, blackberries, and arillate seeds. Sooty Thrush forages for food by scouring the understorey vegetation. This bird has a distinct preference for berries, which is a notable dietary trait.
Habitat
The sooty Thrush predominantly inhabits open areas at high elevations in broad geographical regions characterized by montane ecosystems. Key habitat elements include páramo, shrubby areas surrounding volcanic cones, open bogs, and pastures. They are also found in lower secondary growth areas, and at the edges and clearings within oak forests, typically ranging upward of 2500 meters in elevation.
Dite type
Omnivorous
General Info
Species Status
Not globally threatened.
Photo By Joseph C Boone , used under CC-BY-SA-3.0 /Cropped and compressed from original
Scientific Classification
Phylum
Chordates Class
Birds Order
Perching birds Family
Thrushes Genus
True thrushes Species
Sooty Thrush