Australia (E) (B), Christmas Island, Fiji, Indonesia, Malaysia, New Caledonia, Norfolk Island (E) (B), Papua New Guinea, Philippines (B), Samoa, Solomon Islands, Taiwan (China), Timor-Leste (B) (NB), Vanuatu.
Island Thrush (Turdus poliocephalus) [XC290403]
by JACOB Herv\u00e9 from Chupukama Ridge Guadalcanal 1470m, Solomon Islands (call)
Island Thrush (Turdus poliocephalus) [XC79278]
by Bas van Balen from FEA Tower Trail, Colo y Suva, Viti Levu, Philippines (song)
Breeding Season (Guide)
November - April on Christmas Island.
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Nest
Large, loose, open cup, composed of palm fiber, including strips from fronds, dead leaves, twigs and vegetable fiber, unlined or lined with dry grass or sago palm with green moss, in a building or in the fork of a tree, near the ground.
Eggs (Guide)
2 -3; pale blue-white, spotted and speckled with brown and grey, particularly at the larger end; oval; about 27 x 18 mm. Incubation: about 18 days; by female only.
Young
Altricial, nidicolous. Fledge in about 17 - 19 days.
Subspecies
Taxonomy highly complex. Subspecies group into four morphological types, but attempts to "tease out" taxa or groups as separate species largely frustrated by irregular distributions of taxa with allied characters. Highly distinctive Taiwanese subspecies niveiceps, although clearly allied to present species, possibly best candidate for species status, being the only subspecies with pronounced sexual dimorphism, and much the most northern outlier.
Proposed subspecies biesenbachi (from Mount Papandajan, in western Java) considered not reliably distinguishable from fumidus. Two additional populations, as yet undescribed, apparently exist in central and eastern Sulawesi. Subspecies mareensis (Maré, in Loyalty Is) and vinitinctus (Lord Howe I) extinct.
Subspecies poliocephalus, formerly on Norfolk Island but now extinct, vinitinctus, formerly on Lord Howe Island but now extinct, erythropleurus, Christmas Island, Indian Ocean.
The following 54 subspecies are recognised:
loeseri Meyer de Schauensee, 1939 - Northern Sumatra.
The Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Pizzey, G., and Knight, E., 1997, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 19691 5
Field Guide to Australian Birds Morecombe, M., 2000, Steve Parish Publishing Pty Ltd. ISBN 1 876282 10 X
Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Simpson, K., and Day, N., 1999, 6th Edition, Viking ISBN 0 670 87918 5
Reader's Digest Complete Book of Australian Birds 1988, 2nd Edition, Reader's Digest ISBN 0 949819 99 9
What Bird is That? 1984, Revised Edition, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 14846 5
Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds 1990 - , Oxford University Press, Melbourne ISBN 0 19 553244 9
BirdLife International Species Factsheet