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

Distinguished from all other thrushes in Singapore by light brown upperparts and white underparts with dense dark scaling. Female Siberian Thrush is somewhat similar but has a contrasting white throat and supercilium and a 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 suitable wooded areas.

Behaviour

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