Pied Thrush
Pied Thrush Zoothera wardii
Etymology:
- Zoothera : Greek word zoon animal; theras–hunter
- Wardii : Named after British officer N.Ward (1813–1897)
Vernacular Names:Mal: Kozhikli
Distribution in India: Breeds in Himalayas and winter visitor in South India.
Description: Size of 20-22 cm.The male is black above and to mid-breast, white from mid-breast to undertail-coverts, with black chevrons on flanks. The lores to supercilium are white, lesser and median wing-coverts, wingbar, and tips of flight-feathers and rump are also white; bill and legs are yellow. The female is greyish olive-brown above and on face, with buffy lores to supercilium and two spotted wingbars, brownish-olive malar dividing broad buffy-white, slightly scaled submoustachial and chin, shading to whitish and brown spotting and scaling below, with olive-brown wash on breast, white undertail-coverts; bill and legs dusky-yellowish.
Habitat: It breeds in damp areas near water in open broadleaf forest, secondary areas and fragments, often close to rivers. It winters in sholas, copses, jungle ravines, forest edge, coffee plantations, scrubland, parks and well-wooded gardens It is found from 800m up to 2400 m.
Food habits: It eats beetle, fly, centipede, worms, berries and fruits . It forages in litter in undergrowth, turning over leaves; also in taller berry-bearing trees. It visits dungheaps in winter.
Breeding habits: They breed in May–Jul. The nest is a compact cup of moss and dead leaves, braced with a little mud and lined with roots, placed up from ground in fork of tall tree or low on stump. They lay a clutch of 4 eggs.