Birds of Singapore
by the Bird Society of Singapore
Turdus obscurus
Malay name: Murai-Belanda Bercelak Biasa · Chinese name: 白眉鸫
Family: Thrushes and Allies · Status: Uncommon migrant · Size: 22.5–24.5 cm · Conservation: Least Concern
Breeds across Siberia and Mongolia east to Sakhalin and Kamchatka, winters in southern China, Indochina through to the Thai-Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, Java, Borneo, and the Philippines.
Male has a grey head, white supercilium, moustachial-bar and chin, olive-brown upperparts, orange upper breast and flanks, and white belly. Female is similar but with a brownish head and mantle and more white on the side of the neck and throat. Juvenile is brown above with buff spotting, and the underparts are heavily marked with dark spots. Distinguished from female Siberian Thrush by the orange wash on the breast and flanks; female Siberian Thrush instead has brown-scaled buffy-whitish underparts.
Forest, secondary growth, mangroves and gardens on migration.
Fond of fruiting trees; also forages on the ground. In the winter grounds it sometimes flocks and flies around while calling especially in the mornings.