Turdus eunomus
Silhouette: Sharon Wegner-Larsen · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~40%
The dusky thrush (Turdus eunomus) is a member of the thrush family which breeds eastwards from central Siberia to Kamchatka wintering in Korea, Japan, South China and Myanmar. It is closely related to the more southerly breeding Naumann's thrush T. naumanni; the two have often been regarded as conspecific. The scientific name comes from Latin Turdus, "thrush" and Ancient Greek eunomos, "orderly".
This species breeds in open woodland areas, but unlike Naumann's thrush, the dusky thrush is more tolerant of mountainous and tundra-edge habitats. This species is strongly migratory, wintering south to southeast Asia, principally in China and neighbouring countries. It is a rare vagrant to western Europe. In December 2016 a sighting of one in the Derbyshire in the United Kingdom brought hundreds of birdwatchers to see it.
It nests in trees, laying 3-5 eggs in an untidy but neatly lined nest. Migrating birds and wintering birds often form small flocks. It is omnivorous, eating a wide range of insects, especially mosquitoes, earthworms and berries.
This is a medium-sized but stocky thrush, reminiscent in structure of a small fieldfare. The underwing is reddish brown, and there is a pale supercilium. Dusky thrush has a dark brown back and rump; the face, breast, and flank spots rump are black and the belly and undertail are white. Naumann's thrush in comparison has a paler brown back and head; the face, breast, flank spots and rump are reddish, and the belly and undertail are white.
The female is fairly similar to the male, but immatures have a weaker patterning. The male dusky thrush has a simple fluted or whistling song, similar to the redwing. There are suggestions that the songs of dusky and Naumann's thrush differ. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nikko National Park | 🇯🇵 Japan | |
| 2 | Gobi Gurvansaikhan National Park | 🇲🇳 Mongolia | |
| 3 | Taroko National Park | 🇹🇼 Taiwan |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Dusky Thrush sighting in Beijing on a given day, based on 483 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 81st most-seen of the 324 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 40%, if each day is a fresh chance.
October to April
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Dusky Thrush in Beijing on a given day, against under 5% in May to September, the lowest months.
Between 7 and 10 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Dusky Thrush sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
23rd of 29
Of the 29 cities where we can rate Dusky Thrush sightings, Beijing ranks 23rd at about 10%. The best odds are in Sendai (Japan, about 40%), Nagoya (Japan, about 30%) and Tokyo (Japan, about 30%).
Same genus: Turdus
The closest relatives of the Dusky Thrush that you can see in Beijing (genus Turdus, Typical Thrushes) are Chinese Blackbird (about 60%), Naumann's Thrush (about 20%) and Red-throated Thrush (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Dusky Thrush is recorded against all the birds logged in Beijing (483 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
