Ecuadorian thrush

Ecuadorian thrush
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Turdidae
Genus:	Turdus
Species:	T. maculirostris
Binomial name
Turdus maculirostris Berlepsch & Taczanowski, 1884
Synonyms
Turdus nudigenis maculirostris

The Ecuadorian thrush (Turdus maculirostris) is a resident bird found in western South America in western Ecuador and far northwestern Peru. It was formerly considered to be a subspecies of the spectacled thrush (yellow-eyed thrush), Turdus nudigenis, but has a narrower eyering, and is widely separated in range.

The habitat of this thrush is woodland, and forest edges and clearings, up to 2000 metres.

The Ecuadorian thrush is 21.5 – 23 cm long. It is plain olive-brown above (paler than bare-eyed) and a paler brown below. The throat is brown-streaked off-white, and the lower belly is whitish. It has a narrow yellow eye ring. Sexes are similar, but young birds are flecked above and spotted below. There are no subspecies.

The nest is a lined bulky cup of twigs low in a tree. The only known clutch was of three reddish-blotched blue eggs.

The Ecuadorian thrush feeds in trees on fruit, berries and some insects and earthworms. It is a shy species, and may be largely crepuscular. It is normally alone or in pairs, but may congregate in fruiting trees, often with plumbeous-backed thrush.

• Clement and Hathaway Thrushes ISBN 0-7136-3940-7