Pale thrush

The pale thrush (Turdus pallidus) is a passerine bird of the eastern Palearctic belonging to the genus Turdus in the thrush family Turdidae. It is closely related to the eye-browed thrush and grey-backed thrush.

Pale thrush
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Dinosauria
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Turdidae
Genus: Turdus
Species:
T. pallidus
Binomial name
Turdus pallidus

Taxonomy

The pale thrush was formally described in 1789 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in his revised and expanded edition of Carl Linnaeus's Systema Naturae. He placed it with the thrushes in the genus Turdus and coined the binomial name Turdus pallidus.[2][3] The scientific name comes from Latin Turdus meaning "thrush" and pallidus meaning "pallid" or "pale".[4] Gmelin based his account on the "Pale thrush" that had been described in 1783 by the English ornithologist John Latham in his multi-volume work A General Synopsis of Birds.[5] The species is monotypic: no subspecies are recognised.[6]

Description

It is 23 cm long. The feet are pale pinkish-brown and the bill is grey above and yellow below. The male is brown above with a blue-grey head and throat. The underparts are pale brown, darker on the flanks and whitish on the belly and undertail-coverts. The flight feathers of the wing are dark grey and the underwing-coverts are grey or white. The tail is dark grey with white tips to the outer feathers. The female is similar to the male but duller with a browner head and pale throat.

It has harsh chuck-chuck and see-ip calls and a bubbling alarm call.

Distribution and habitat

It breeds in south-east Siberia, north-east China and Korea and may breed in Japan, especially on Tsushima Island. It is largely migratory, wintering in southern and central Japan, South Korea and southern China, occasionally reaching as far as Yunnan, Taiwan and the Philippines. It inhabits forests, scrub, gardens and parks. It is a shy bird which keeps to cover. It can occur in large flocks on migration, particularly where there are berries.

References
  1. BirdLife International (2016). "Turdus pallidus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2016: e.T22708797A94177663. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22708797A94177663.en. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  2. Gmelin, Johann Friedrich (1789). Systema naturae per regna tria naturae : secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis (in Latin). Vol. 1, Part 2 (13th ed.). Lipsiae [Leipzig]: Georg. Emanuel. Beer. p. 815.
  3. Mayr, Ernst; Paynter, Raymond A. Jr, eds. (1964). Check-List of Birds of the World. Vol. 10. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. p. 201.
  4. Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. pp. 289, 393. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
  5. Latham, John (1783). A General Synopsis of Birds. Vol. 2, Part 1. London: Printed for Leigh and Sotheby. p. 32, No. 27.
  6. Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (July 2023). "Thrushes". IOC World Bird List Version 13.2. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 15 August 2023.
  • Brazil, Mark A. (1991) The Birds of Japan. Christopher Helm, London.
  • Lee, Woo-Shin, Koo, Tae-Hoe & Park, Jin-Young (2000) A Field Guide to the Birds of Korea. LG Evergreen Foundation, Seoul.
  • MacKinnon, John & Phillipps, Karen (2000) A Field Guide to the Birds of China. Oxford University Press, Oxford.
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