- Catharus gracilirostris
Identification
Length 13.5 to 16 cm; weight 21 g
Adult:
- Olive- brown upperparts
- Gray crown
- Pale gray underparts, becoming whitish on the belly
- Brownish breast band
- Black bill
Juvenile: darker head and underparts, brown breast band, brown marks on the belly
Similar species
Other Nightingale-Thrushes which do not show the brown breast band separating grey throat and belly, and Wrenthrush which lack the breast band and has a rufous crown stripe.
Distribution
![](/wiki/images/thumb/d/d3/Black_billed_Nightingale_Thrush_by_Pablo_Siles.jpg/350px-Black_billed_Nightingale_Thrush_by_Pablo_Siles.jpg)
Costa Rica, March 2010
This image is probably too reddish in the brown. The truth is somewhere between the this image and the one by Bjorn Svensson
Costa Rica and western Panama (Chiriqui province).
Taxonomy
Subspecies[1]
- C. g. gracilirostris:
- Humid montane forests of Costa Rica
- C. g. accentor: more rufous upperparts and paler underparts than the nominate race
- Humid montane forests of western Panama
A third subspecies bensoni is not recognised by all authorities[2]
Habitat
It is found in the undergrowth of wet mountain oak forests and second growth, usually above 1350 m to patches of shrubbery beyond the tree line.
Behaviour
A rather tame and confiding species.
Diet
Feeds amongst vegetation on the forest floor. Typically thrush-like (hopping and darting and listening), turning leaves over. Usually alone but sometimes in pairs. Diet consists of insects, spiders and small fruits.
Breeding
Two brown eggs, with greeny-blue blotches, are laid in a bulky nest, usually in a small tree.
Vocalisation
Three flute-like tones followed by a jumbled trill, and the call is a high thin seet.
References
- Clements, JF. 2009. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to December 2009. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019.
- Avibase
- Wikipedia
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Black-billed Nightingale-Thrush. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 1 September 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Black-billed_Nightingale-Thrush
External Links
Search the Gallery using the scientific name:
Search the Gallery Using the common name:
GSearch checked for 2020 platform.