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:
Grey-backed Thrush Turdus hortulorum
Tickell’s Thrush T. unicolor
Black-breasted Thrush T. dissimilis
Japanese Thrush T. cardis
White-collared Blackbird T. albocinctus
Grey-winged Blackbird T. boulboul
Common Blackbird T. merula
Chinese Blackbird T. mandarinus
Tibetan Blackbird T. maximus
Chestnut Thrush T. rubrocanus
White-backed Thrush T. kessleri
Grey-sided Thrush T. feae
Eyebrowed Thrush T. obscurus
Pale Thrush T. pallidus
Brown-headed Thrush T. chrysolaus
Black-throated Thrush T. atrogularis
Red-throated Thrush T. ruficollis
Naumann’s Thrush T. naumanni
Dusky Thrush T. eunomus
Fieldfare T. pilaris
Redwing T. iliacus
Song Thrush T. philomelos
Chinese Thrush T. mupinensis
Mistle Thrush T. viscivorus
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.
