Kurrichane Thrush

Overview

The Kurrichane thrush (Turdus libonyana) is a species of bird in the thrush family Turdidae found across central and southern Africa. Its common name is derived from a corruption of Kaditshwene, the name of a former town in northern South Africa where the original specimen was collected.

Identification

• Length of 21 to 23 cm with a weight of 46–82 g.
• Head, upperparts, and breast are grey, with a whitish belly and orange flanks.
• Throat is white featuring black streaks on the sides.
• Bill is orange, tending to a paler yellow at the base, and both sexes are alike.

Habitat

This species inhabits dry savanna and woodland, predominantly miombo woodland. Its range extends through central to southern Africa, including Angola, Botswana, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

Did you know?

The specific epithet libonyana was mistakenly assigned to this bird because it shares a reddish bill with the red-billed buffalo weaver, a species for which the name originally derived from the Tswana word Lebonyana.