- Catharus fuscater
Identification
17–19 cm (6¾-7½ in)
Above dark grey shading to slate-black on head, wings, and tail. Throat, breast, sides, and crissum slate-gray; centre of lower breast and belly white. Eye white. Eye-ring and bill orange, legs paler orange.
Variations
The above description fits subspecies hellmayri from western Panama and Costa Rica; underside varies quite a bit on different subspecies but all have the pale eye.
Distribution
Costa Rica to western Panama and from eastern Panama to North West Venezuela, North Colombia, and Bolivia.
Taxonomy
Seven subspecies are recognized[1]:
- C. f. hellmayri:
- Mountains of Costa Rica and western Panama (Chiriquí and Veraguas)
- C. f. mirabilis:
- Extreme eastern Panama (Mount Pirre)
- C. f. fuscater:
- C. f. sanctaemartae:
- Santa Marta Mountains (north-eastern Colombia)
- C. f. opertaneus:
- West Andes of Colombia (Antioquia)
- C. f. caniceps:
- Andes of northern and central Peru
- C. f. mentalis:
- Andes of extreme south-eastern Peru (Puno) and north-wester Bolivia (La Paz)
Habitat
Mostly on or near ground in wet mountain forest.
Behaviour
They hop bouncily, stops and stands pertly, nervously flicking wings.
Diet
Their diet consists of insects, sowbugs, spiders and earthworms; they also eat a lot of berries and fruit. They forage mostly on the ground up to eye-level for fruits.
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2017. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2017, with updates to August 2017. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (retrieved June 2018)
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Slaty-backed Nightingale-Thrush. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 27 July 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Slaty-backed_Nightingale-Thrush
