Mistle Thrush Turdus viscivorus occurs Western Europe to Lake Baikal. In China, bonapartei reaches southwest Xinjiang plus the Tianshan, Jungar Basin, and Altai Mountains in northern Xinjiang. HABITAT & BEHAVIOR Light woodland and open country, including gardens and playing fields, where feeds on invertebrates, seeds, and berries. Wary, often standing upright, checking for danger. ID & COMPARISON Sexes alike. Distinguished from Song Thrush T. philomelos by larger size and plumper shape. Also has white tips to outer three tail feathers, white underwing (yellowish in Song Thrush), rounder and heavier spotting on belly, and more contrasting face. Duller and less contrasting than White’s Thrush Zoothera aurea. BARE PARTS Large bill black with pale yellow base. Feet pinkish to yellow-brown. VOICE Song rich but less complex and more melancholy than Common Blackbird T. merula. Distinctive dry and rattling call. — Craig Brelsford
THE TRUE THRUSHES OF CHINA
shanghaibirding.com has research on all 24 species in the genus Turdus in China. Click any link:
Chinese Thrush Turdus mupinensis
Song Thrush T. philomelos
Mistle Thrush T. viscivorus
Chinese Blackbird T. mandarinus
Redwing T. iliacus
Common Blackbird T. merula
Grey-winged Blackbird T. boulboul
Tickell’s Thrush T. unicolor
Black-breasted Thrush T. dissimilis
Japanese Thrush T. cardis
Grey-backed Thrush T. hortulorum
Eyebrowed Thrush T. obscurus
Pale Thrush T. pallidus
Grey-sided Thrush T. feae
Brown-headed Thrush T. chrysolaus
Tibetan Blackbird T. maximus
White-backed Thrush T. kessleri
Fieldfare T. pilaris
Black-throated Thrush T. atrogularis
Red-throated Thrush T. ruficollis
Dusky Thrush T. eunomus
Naumann’s Thrush T. naumanni
Chestnut Thrush T. rubrocanus
White-collared Blackbird T. albocinctus
See also:
Taiwan Thrush Turdus niveiceps
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Daniel Bengtsson served as chief ornithological consultant for Craig Brelsford’s Photographic Field Guide to the Birds of China, from which this species description is drawn.
