The scaly thrush (''Zoothera dauma'') is a member of the thrush family Turdidae.

Distribution and habitat

It breeds in wet

conifer Conifers are a group of conifer cone, cone-bearing Spermatophyte, seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Scientifically, they make up the phylum, division Pinophyta (), also known as Coniferophyta () or Coniferae. The division contains a single ...

ous

taiga Taiga (; rus, тайга́, p=tɐjˈɡa; relates to Mongolic and Turkic languages), generally referred to in North America as a boreal forest or snow forest, is a biome characterized by coniferous forests consisting mostly of pines, spruce ...

, mainly in the

Himalayas The Himalayas, or Himalaya (; ; ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the planet's highest peaks, including the very highest, Mount Everest. Over 100 ...

through

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

Description

The sexes are similar, 27–31 cm long, with black scaling on a paler white or yellowish background. The most striking identification feature in flight is the black band on the white underwings, a feature shared with

Siberian thrush The Siberian thrush (''Geokichla sibirica'') is a member of the thrush family, Turdidae. The genus name ''Geokichla'' comes from Ancient Greek ''geo-'', "ground-" and ''kikhle'', " thrush". The specific ''sibirica'' is Latin for Siberia. It bree ...

. The male has a song which is a loud, far-carrying mechanical whistle, with 5-10 second pauses between each one second long phrase ''twee...tuuu....tuuu....tuuu''. GeocichlaHorsfieldiKeulemans

Taxonomy

There are several races which are now often split into a varying number of separate species. ''Z. aurea'' ( White's thrush), including the questionable subspecies ''Z. a. toratugumi'', is the migratory Siberian and north-east Asian form. ''Z. neilgherriensis'' ( Nilgiri thrush) is resident in the hills of southwest

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. ''Z. imbricata'' ( Sri Lanka thrush) is endemic to the hills of

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

and is particularly distinctive, being smaller, long-billed and

rufous Rufous () is a color that may be described as reddish-brown or brownish-red, as of rust or oxidised iron. The first recorded use of ''rufous'' as a color name in English was in 1782. However, the color is also recorded earlier in 1527 as a dia ...

below. ''Z. d. dauma'' (scaly thrush) breeds in the

Himalaya The Himalayas, or Himalaya (; ; ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the planet's highest peaks, including the very highest, Mount Everest. Over 100 ...

and migrates to the foothills in winter. ''Z. d. horsfieldi'' (Horsfield's thrush) is resident in

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

on the islands of

Sumatra Sumatra is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the sixth-largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 (182,812 mi.2), not including adjacent i ...

Java Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's List ...

Bali Bali () is a province of Indonesia and the westernmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands. East of Java and west of Lombok, the province includes the island of Bali and a few smaller neighbouring islands, notably Nusa Penida, Nusa Lembongan, and Nu ...

Lombok Lombok is an island in West Nusa Tenggara province, Indonesia. It forms part of the chain of the Lesser Sunda Islands, with the Lombok Strait separating it from Bali to the west and the Alas Strait between it and Sumbawa to the east. It is rou ...

and

Sumbawa Sumbawa is an Indonesian island, located in the middle of the Lesser Sunda Islands chain, with Lombok to the west, Flores to the east, and Sumba further to the southeast. Along with Lombok, it forms the province of West Nusa Tenggara, but there ...

. ''Z. major'' (

Amami thrush The Amami thrush (''Zoothera major'') is a member of the thrush family Turdidae. It is endemic to the islands of Amami Ōshima and Kakeroma island in the northern Nansei Islands of Japan. Description This large, heavily patterned thrush is sim ...

) is restricted to the

Amami Islands The The name ''Amami-guntō'' was standardized on February 15, 2010. Prior to that, another name, ''Amami shotō'' (奄美諸島), was also used. is an archipelago in the Satsunan Islands, which is part of the Ryukyu Islands, and is southwest o ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

and is now considered a distinct species. The taxonomy of this group is still in flux. Some of these subspecies are very similar and the identity of some populations, such as those on

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

, is uncertain. The

fawn-breasted thrush The fawn-breasted thrush (''Zoothera machiki'') is a species of bird in the family Turdidae. It is endemic to the Tanimbar Islands in Indonesia. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. It is threatened by habitat los ...

(''Z. machiki'') of Indonesia and the

Bassian thrush The Bassian thrush (''Zoothera lunulata''), also known as the olive-tailed thrush, is a medium-sized mostly insectivorous thrush found from northern Queensland to southeastern Australia; it also occurs in Tasmania, on some larger islands of Bas ...

(''Z. lunulata'') and

russet-tailed thrush The russet-tailed thrush (''Zoothera heinei'') is a species of bird in the family Turdidae, closely related to the more widespread Bassian thrush (''Zoothera lunulata''). It is found in eastern Australia and Papua New Guinea. Its natural habit ...

(''Z. heinei'') of

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

were also included in ''Z. dauma'' in the past.

Behaviour

The scaly thrush is very secretive, preferring dense cover. It nests in trees, laying three or four dull green

eggs Humans and human ancestors have scavenged and eaten animal eggs for millions of years. Humans in Southeast Asia had domesticated chickens and harvested their eggs for food by 1,500 BCE. The most widely consumed eggs are those of fowl, especial ...

in a neat

cup nest A bird nest is the spot in which a bird lays and incubates its eggs and raises its young. Although the term popularly refers to a specific structure made by the bird itself—such as the grassy cup nest of the American robin or Eurasian bl ...

. It is omnivorous, eating a wide range of

insects Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body (head, thorax and abdomen), three pairs of j ...

earthworm An earthworm is a terrestrial invertebrate that belongs to the phylum Annelida. They exhibit a tube-within-a-tube body plan; they are externally segmented with corresponding internal segmentation; and they usually have setae on all segments. Th ...

s and berries.

References

* Brazil, Mark (2009) ''Birds of East Asia'', Christopher Helm, London. * Collar, N. J. (2004
Species limits in some Indonesian thrushes
''Forktail'', 20: 71–87. * Internet Bird Collection
Common Scaly Thrush (''Zoothera dauma'')
Retrieved 10 January 2010. * ''Birds of India'' by Grimmett, Inskipp and Inskipp, * ''Thrushes'' by Clement and Hathaway,

External links

caught at the birdringgingstation at Schiermonnikoog,

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

{{Taxonbar, from=Q695723

scaly thrush The scaly thrush (''Zoothera dauma'') is a member of the thrush family Turdidae. Distribution and habitat It breeds in wet coniferous taiga, mainly in the Himalayas through Malaysia. Description The sexes are similar, 27–31 cm long, wi ...

Birds of Central China Birds of Myanmar Birds of Laos Birds of Thailand Birds of Vietnam Birds of Yunnan Birds of the Himalayas