Malaysian Bids

89 PASSERIFORMES: Turdidae

Thrush  

Within the family of Thrushes, there are many given very specific common names like Forest, Wood, Rock, Laughing & Song Thrush. In fact the true representative of Thrush is a species under Urdus which has the famous Blackbird among them. Thrushes are small to medium-sized birds, some species are passerine like while many others are plump looking. They have soft-plumage and prefer wooded areas. Though spending most of the time on the ground, generally they feed on small fruit. There are many "kinds" of Thrushes, locally named as "Forest, Wood, Rock, Laughing, Song and Whistling." The largest among them, the Blue Whistling Thrush. In Malaysia we get to see only Rock Thrush and Whistling Thrush apart from the 2 visiting Thrushes.

The Turdidae species spread the seeds of plant species, contributing to the spread of many species and the recovery of ecosystems. Within this group of birds are a few which migrate often over considerable distances. Then they disperse the seeds of many endangered species at new sites helping to eliminate inbreeding and increasing the genetic diversity of plant species

Chestnut-capped Thrush Zoothera interpres
Everett's Thrush Zoothera everetti
Orange-headed Thrush Zoothera citrina
Siberian Thrush Zoothera sibirica
Scaly Thrush Zoothera dauma
Island Thrush Turdus poliocephalus
Eyebrowed Thrush Turdus obscurus
Pale Thrush Turdus pallidus
   
Blue Rock-Thrush Monticola solitarius
White-throated Rock-Thrush Monticola gularis
 
Eurasian Blackbird Turdus merula
Fruithunter Chlamydochaera jefferyi
   
Lesser Shortwing Brachypteryx leucophris
White-browed Shortwing Brachypteryx montana

Rock Thrushes & Whistling Thrushes

These birds are found the section 90 PASSERIFORMES: Muscicapidae together with the flycatchers

 The Call of the Thrushes is a different whistle, often fuzzy or metal sounding but some do have attractive songs as well. These winter visitors being large and uncommon bird bring a lot of joy to the local birders who will flock to places where they were last spotted. The photographers would be the first people to keep vigil of the birds activities. Hopefully that they would not be overfed and lost the will to return home some years.

Eye-browed Thrush 1

Eye-browed Thrush 2

Eye-browed Thrush 3

Orange-headed Thrush 1

Orange-headed Thrush 2

Orange-headed Thrush 3

Orange-headed Thrush 4

Siberian Thrush 1

Siberian Thrush 2

Siberian Thrush 3

Siberian Thrush 4

 
 My personal jottings on the Siberian Thrush :-

The birds is 22 cm long and the bird breeds in eastern arctic area of North-eastern China & Japan then winters in Sumatra and Western Java. It is only during the northern winter period that we get to see the bird in our sub-montane to montane region.

Annually the birds, a pair of them would spend long time at the summit of Ulu Kali. It is not surprising then that we met the bird in Gunong Brinchang and also in Frasers Hills.

 In Frasers Hills, the scene was slightly different as the male, only bird spotted, was up in the tree gathering fresh fruits from the branches. Otherwise most times, the bird should be foraging on the ground.

In Gunong Ulu Kali, the female spent considerable time turn over rubbish at the dumpsite to look for insect. I asked myself the question as to whether the birds were over staying. they were still around in mid-April.
 

Try looking for a Thrush? near impossible! Thrush is a very secretive bird, preferring dense cover. It nests in trees, laying three or four dull green eggs in a neat cup nest.
Thrush hunt on the ground in wooded areas foraging for fallen berries and insects. It is only during this time, that the bird was accidentally spotted and its whereabouts reported among birders. Then it is possible to stalk the bird remaining absolutely quiet for its coming out of of hiding.
 

 

With Will would Wander