The grey shrikethrush or grey shrike-thrush (''Colluricincla harmonica''), formerly commonly known as grey thrush, is a

songbird A songbird is a bird belonging to the suborder Passeri of the perching birds (Passeriformes). Another name that is sometimes seen as the scientific or vernacular name is Oscines, from Latin ''oscen'', "songbird". The Passeriformes contains 500 ...

of Australasia. It is moderately common to common in most parts of Australia, but absent from the driest of the inland deserts. It is also found in

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu Hiri Motu, also known as Police Motu, Pidgin Motu, or just Hiri, is a language of Papua New Guinea, which is spoken in surrounding areas of Port Moresby (Capital of Papua New Guinea). It is a simplified version of ...

Taxonomy and systematics

The grey shrikethrush was originally described in the genus ''

Turdus True thrushes are medium-sized mostly insectivorous or omnivorous birds in the genus ''Turdus'' of the wider thrush family, Turdidae. The genus name ''Turdus'' is Latin for "thrush". The term " thrush" is used for many other birds of the family T ...

''. Alternate names include the brown shrike-thrush, buff-bellied shrike-thrush, grey shrike-flycatcher, northern shrike-thrush and south-western shrike-thrush.

Subspecies

Five subspecies are recognized: * ''C. h. brunnea'' -

Gould Gould may refer to: People * Gould (name), a surname Places United States * Gould, Arkansas, a city * Gould, Colorado, an unincorporated community * Gould, Ohio, an unincorporated community * Gould, Oklahoma, a town * Gould, West Virginia, a ...

, 1841: Originally described as a separate species. Found in northern Australia and Melville Island * ''C. h. superciliosa'' - Masters, 1876: Originally described as a separate species. Found in eastern New Guinea, islands in the Torres Strait and north-eastern Australia * ''C. h. harmonica'' - ( Latham, 1801): Found in eastern Australia * ''C. h. strigata'' - Swainson, 1838: Originally described as a separate species. Found in

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

and the islands in the

Bass Strait Bass Strait () is a strait separating the island state of Tasmania from the Australian mainland (more specifically the coast of Victoria, with the exception of the land border across Boundary Islet). The strait provides the most direct waterwa ...

(Australia) * Western shrikethrush (''C. h. rufiventris'') - Gould, 1841: Originally described as a separate species. Found in western, southern and central Australia

Description

Of medium size (about long) and lacking bright colours, the grey shrikethrush—usually just ''thrush'' in casual conversation—has an extraordinary gift for ringing melody, unmatched by any other Australasian species save perhaps the two

lyrebird A lyrebird is either of two species of ground-dwelling Australian birds that compose the genus ''Menura'', and the family Menuridae. They are most notable for their impressive ability to mimic natural and artificial sounds from their environme ...

s and its northern relative, the

sandstone shrikethrush The sandstone shrikethrush (''Colluricincla woodwardi'') is a species of bird in the family Pachycephalidae. It is endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nati ...

Status

The grey shrikethrush is evaluated as

least concern A least-concern species is a species that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as evaluated as not being a focus of species conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wild. T ...

on the

IUCN Red List The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biol ...

of Threatened Species.

Gallery

CSIRO ScienceImage 3102 Grey Shrikethrush.jpg, In Victoria Colluricincla harmonica -Tasmania-8.jpg, In Tasmania Grey Shrike-thrush.ogg, In Queensland Grey Shrike-thrush juvenile (Colluricincla harmonica) (15949091963).jpg, Juvenile Colluricincla harmonica Dorrigo NSW.jpg, Dorrigo, NSW, Australia

References

External links

BirdLife Species Factsheet

grey shrikethrush The grey shrikethrush or grey shrike-thrush (''Colluricincla harmonica''), formerly commonly known as grey thrush, is a songbird of Australasia. It is moderately common to common in most parts of Australia, but absent from the driest of the inlan ...

Birds of Australia Birds of New Guinea

Articles containing video clips {{Pachycephalidae-stub