Varied Thrush
Ixoreus naevius
Morphology 3
Length 19.0-26.5 cm; Body mass 65-100grams
Male: Characteristics of male Varied Thrushes are a slate blue back and nape, an orange face, eyebrow, and breast with a black eye stripe and black necklace or breast band. Wings; Coverts are slate-grey with two orange bars. Secondaries are slate-grey and tipped with orange. Primaries are slate-grey and dappled with orange (Finley, 1936).
Female: Resembles the male but much more dull and with brownish-olive coloration replacing the slate-grey of the male (Finley, 1936).
Juvenile: Like the female but with a whitish belly (Finley, 1936). There are four listed subspecies for the Varied Thrush based solely on plumage differences in the females (in George, 2000).
- Ixoreus naevius naevius (Gmelin, 1789). The females are a deeper brown with fewer white (light) markings and shorter, more rounded wings than I.n. meruloides.
- Ixoreus naevius meruloides (Swainson, 1832). The females are grayer and more pale than the nominate subspecies.
- Ixoreus naevius carlottae (Phillips, 1991). The females are reddish dorsally.
- Ixoreus naevius godfreii (Phillips, 1991). The females are darker dorsally than I.n. meruloides and more reddish in fresh plumage and paler on the back and rump than I.n. naevius.
Habitat 4
Comments: Humid coastal and interior montane coniferous forest, deciduous forest with dense understory, and tall shrubs (especially alder); in migration and winter also open woodland and chaparral (AOU 1983). BREEDING: Usually nests in a small conifer, sometimes a deciduous tree, 3-4.5 m above ground.
Trophic strategy 5
During migration they eat fruits, berries and acorns. During the summer they eat arthropods, fruits and berries (George, 2000). During the winter, Varied Thrushes eat arthropods, fruits and acorns and can be lured to backyard feeding stations and are fond of apples (Finley, 1936 and George, 2000). Wells et al. (1996) suggest that the population cycling of the Varied Thrush is tied to the fruiting cycle of oak trees in the thrush's habitat.
Sources and Credits
- (c) Aaron Maizlish, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), https://www.flickr.com/photos/amaizlish/15660805930/
- (c) Larry Miller, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), https://www.flickr.com/photos/grassvalleylarry/16302296292/
- (c) The Regents of the University of Michigan and its licensors, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/31399893
- (c) NatureServe, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://eol.org/data_objects/28917113
- (c) The Regents of the University of Michigan and its licensors, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/31399897
More Info
Range Map
iNaturalist.ca Map
| Animal | Bird |
|---|---|
| Bird | Thrushes (Turdidae) |
| Color | black, orange |
