Forest thrush

This article is about the Caribbean bird species. For the Himalayan species Zoothera salimalii, see Himalayan thrush.

The forest thrush (Turdus lherminieri) is a species of bird in the family Turdidae.

Forest thrush
Conservation status
Near Threatened  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Turdidae
Genus:	Turdus
Species:	T. lherminieri
Binomial name
Turdus lherminieri Lafresnaye, 1844
Synonyms
Cichlherminia lherminieri

Taxonomy

It was historically the sole species within the genus Cichlherminia,^[2] however the AOU reclassified the species to the genus Turdus in 2009.

4 subspecies occur:

• T. l. lherminieri (nominate race) - Guadeloupe
• T. l. dominicensis - Dominica
• T. l. dorotheae - Montserrat
• T. l. sanctaeluciae - St. Lucia

All are distinguished by the amount of scaling on the breast.^[3]

Description

It is a medium-sized thrush at 25–27 cm long and weighing 100–110 g.^[4] Like many thrushes, the forest thrush has brown upperparts with pale underparts showing a scaly pattern of coloration. However, for a thrush it has an unusually wide band of bare skin around each eye.

Distribution and habitat

It is endemic to the Lesser Antilles, an island group in the Caribbean. It can be found, though uncommon to rare, on Dominica, Guadeloupe, Montserrat, and Saint Lucia. Its natural habitat is tropical moist mountain forest at mid-elevation under closed canopies.^[5]

Conservation

It is threatened by habitat loss.^[1] Its population is likely stable.^[6]