African Thrush

Overview

The African thrush, or West African thrush (Turdus pelios), is a passerine bird found in the thrush family Turdidae. It is a common and resident species across the western and central parts of sub-Saharan Africa. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.

Identification

• Plumage: Dark olive-grey upperparts; underparts feature a whitish, evenly brown-streaked throat, greyish-brown breast, pale buff-orange flanks, and a white belly and vent.
• Size: Measures 21–23 cm in length and weighs 46–78 g.
• Bill: Yellow-orange in colour.
• Song: A sustained, clear warble consisting of different phrases repeated in a random sequence, accompanied by a high-pitched squealing flight call.

Habitat

It inhabits a variety of wooded environments, including forest edges, riparian woodland, scrub, cultivation, parks and gardens. Its range extends from Senegal and Gambia in the west to South Sudan, Uganda, Ethiopia and Eritrea, and south to northwestern Zambia and western Angola.

Diet

Foraging is crepuscular and typically involves flicking through leaf litter and searching through vegetation on the ground. The diet consists primarily of fruit, particularly Azadirachta indica, figs, papaya, berries and seeds, supplemented by invertebrates and occasionally small fish. Where undisturbed, it may forage in the open and even crack open snails on an anvil stone.

Did you know?

The African thrush is reported to crack open snails on a stone anvil, a behaviour similar to that of the song thrush in Europe. It is also known to re-use the abandoned nests of other species for its own breeding purposes.