White's Thrush

Overview

White's thrush (Zoothera aurea) is a bird in the thrush family, Turdidae, currently classified as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List. It was named after the English naturalist Gilbert White and was previously considered a subspecies of the scaly thrush.

Identification

• Length of 27–31 cm with black scaling on a paler white or yellowish background.
• A striking black band on the white underwings is visible in flight, a feature shared with the Siberian thrush.
• The male produces a loud, far-carrying mechanical whistle with five to ten-second pauses between one-second phrases.

Habitat

This species breeds in wet coniferous taiga across the eastern Palearctic, including Siberia, Manchuria, Korea, and Japan. Northern races are strongly migratory, moving to southeastern Asia during the winter, and it is a very rare vagrant to western Europe.

Did you know?

The genus name Zoothera derives from Ancient Greek meaning 'animal hunter', while the specific name aurea comes from the Latin word for 'golden'.