- Turdus lherminieri
Cichlherminia lherminieri
Identification
This bird has upperparts that are brown to grayish-brown, while the underparts are strikingly scaled in appearance, white bordered by brown. On some islands, the rear part of the belly is all white. Bill is yellow, and the same is the large eye-ring consisting of bare skin.
Similar Species
Forest thrush is similar to Spectacled Thrush (Turdus nudigenis -formerly called Bare-eyed Robin) in that both have yellow around the eye, but the Spectacled Thrush is missing the scaling on the underside. Sounds are also somewhat similar, possibly explaining why the Spectacled Thrush is aggressive towards Forest Thrush and other similar birds.
Distribution
Forest thrush is a species endemic to the Lesser Antilles in the West Indies, only found on the islands of Montserrat, Guadeloupe, Dominica, and St. Lucia.
Taxonomy
Has been placed in the genus Cichlherminia in the past.
Subspecies
There are 4 subspecies, one on each island[1]:
- T. l. lherminieri:
- T. l. dorotheae:
- Montserrat (Lesser Antilles)
- T. l. dominicensis:
- Dominica (Lesser Antilles)
- T. l. sanctaeluciae:
- St. Lucia (Lesser Antilles)
Habitat
Prefers older and wetter forest and is for that reason often found somewhat above sea level.
Behaviour
In many ways a fairly typical thrush.
Conservation concerns
Forest Thrush has been almost extirpated from St Lucia, probably from a combination of competition with American Bare-eyed Thrush, habitat change including planting of exotic forest trees, brood parasitism by Shiny Cowbird, and hunting. Similar threats exist in the rest of its range, but so far it is doing OK in Dominica, while the influence from the volcanic events on Montserrat is a unique threat to that population.
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2014. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: Version 6.9., with updates to August 2014. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2025) Forest Thrush. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 13 May 2025 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Forest_Thrush
