White's Thrush

Zoothera aurea

Family: Thrushes and Allies · Status: Vagrant · Size: 29–30.5 cm · Conservation: Not Evaluated

Range

Breeds from Siberia to Korea and Japan, wintering to South China and Indochina.

Identification

Golden-olive and yellowish-brown upperparts and white underparts covered with dense black scales; two pale bars on wings. Female Siberian Thrush has a contrasting white supercilium and throat, dark moustachial stripe, and lacks the dense upperpart scaling. Separation from the near-identical Scaly Thrush Z. dauma (unrecorded in Singapore) is best confirmed by wing formula: in White's Thrush, p2 falls between p4 and p5; in Scaly Thrush, p2 falls between p5 and p6.

Habitat

Forest and wooded areas, including urban parks and gardens adjacent to tree cover.

Behaviour

Forages in leaf litter in forests; also feeds at fruiting trees. Active at dawn and dusk. Can remain inconspicuously still when perched.