Sooty Thrush

Overview

The sooty thrush (Turdus nigrescens) is a species of bird in the family Turdidae, formerly known as the sooty robin. It is a mostly sedentary resident found in high-altitude areas of Central America.

Identification

• Adults are 24 to 25.5 cm long and sexually dimorphic; males are mostly brownish black with sooty black wings and tail, while females are browner overall.
• Both sexes possess a white iris, a yellow-orange bill, and orange legs, with adult males displaying an orange eye-ring.
• Juveniles feature dark brown upperparts with buff streaks, spotted underparts, a white chin, and a brownish-yellow bill.
• The song consists of a series of short phrases, such as "chuweek" or "seechrrrzit", each repeated 3–6 times with pauses, while calls include a distinctive low grating "grrrek".

Habitat

Found in Costa Rica and far western Panama, the species inhabits the edges of montane evergreen forests, semi-humid to humid montane scrublands, and second-growth scrublands in subtropical and temperate zones. It occurs at elevations ranging from 2,150 to 3,500 m, with higher numbers typically found above 2,400 m.

Diet

This thrush feeds on a variety of insects, spiders, fruits, and berries. It forages mostly on the ground in open areas and along the forest edge, often in small loose flocks, by poking into grass clumps and flipping leaves with its bill.

Did you know?

The species was formerly known as the sooty robin, a name reflecting its historical taxonomic classification before its current binomial, Turdus nigrescens, was established in 1861.