Whistling Thrush
See text.
The whistling thrushes comprise a genus Myophonus (Myiophoneus) of the thrush family Turdidae.
They are all medium-sized mostly insectivorous or omnivorous birds. They are all brightly coloured species found in India and southeast Asia. The male is usually blue, and the females are either similar to the male or brown.
The brighter blue patches found on the shoulders and sometimes the head, of whistling thrushes, uniquely for a passerine, reflect strongly in the ultraviolet.
Many of the species are confined to single islands or countries.
Species:
- Sri Lanka Whistling Thrush, Myophonus blighi, found on Sri Lanka
- Shiny Whistling Thrush, Myophonus melanurus, Sumatra
- Brown-winged Whistling Thrush, Myophonus castaneus, Sumatra
- Javan Whistling Thrush Myophonus glaucinus, Java
- Bornean Whistling Thrush Myophonus borneensis, Borneo
- Malayan Whistling Thrush, Myophonus robinsoni, peninsular Malaysia
- Malabar Whistling Thrush, Myophonus horsfieldii, peninsular India
- Taiwan Whistling Thrush or Taiwan Whistling-thrush, Myophonus insularis, Taiwan
- Blue Whistling Thrush, Myophonus caeruleus, from Central Asia east to China and south to the Sundas
Javan, Bornean and Brown-winged were formerly lumped as Sunda Whistling Thrush, but split by Collar (2004).
Read more about Whistling Thrush: Habits
Famous quotes containing the words whistling and/or thrush:
“Never since the middle summer’s spring
Met we on hill, in dale, forest, or mead,
By pavèd fountain or by rushy brook,
Or in the beachèd margent of the sea
To dance our ringlets to the whistling wind,
But with thy brawls thou hast disturbed our sport.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“Sitting in that dusky wilderness, under that dark mountain, by the bright river which was full of reflected light, still I heard the wood thrush sing, as if no higher civilization could be attained. By this time the night was upon us.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)