The Christmas thrush (''Turdus poliocephalus erythropleurus'') is a subspecies of the

island thrush The island thrush (''Turdus poliocephalus'') is a common forest bird in the thrush family. Almost 50 subspecies have been described, ranging from South East Asia and Melanesia, to Samoa, exhibiting great differences in plumage. Several subspe ...

(''Turdus poliocephalus''). It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...

Christmas Island Christmas Island, officially the Territory of Christmas Island, is an Australian external territory comprising the island of the same name. It is located in the Indian Ocean, around south of Java and Sumatra and around north-west of the ...

, an Australian territory in the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by t ...

Description

The Christmas thrush has a mainly dark grey-brown head, paler grey-brown throat and upper breast, with olive-brown upperparts. The flanks, lower breast and sides of belly are orange, with a white belly and vent. It is about 21 cm in length, with a wingspan of 34 cm and a weight of 55 g. Its bill, orbital ring and legs are yellow-orange. Males and females are similar in size and appearance.

Distribution and habitat

The subspecies is now limited to Christmas Island. Between 1885 and 1900 it was introduced to the

Cocos (Keeling) Islands ) , anthem = "''Advance Australia Fair''" , song_type = , song = , image_map = Australia on the globe (Cocos (Keeling) Islands special) (Southeast Asia centered).svg , map_alt = Location of the Cocos (Keeling) Islands , map_caption = ...

, where it was plentiful for many years on three islands of the main atoll as well as on North Keeling. However, between the 1940s and 1980s population reduced until becoming extirpated. It is commonly found in most habitats on Christmas Island, including rainforest and

garden A garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the cultivation, display, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. The single feature identifying even the wildest wild garden is ''control''. The garden can incorporate bot ...

s. It is less common in Pandanus thickets, dense regrowth and post-mining wasteland.

Behaviour

Breeding

The thrush breeds mainly from early October until the middle of March, though there are records from other months. It nests in

tree In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, including only woody plants with secondary growth, plants that are ...

s and

tree fern The tree ferns are arborescent (tree-like) ferns that grow with a trunk elevating the fronds above ground level, making them trees. Many extant tree ferns are members of the order Cyatheales, to which belong the families Cyatheaceae (scaly tree ...

s, and sometimes on the ledges of buildings. The clutch size is usually 2–3, and the incubation period is 18 days, with fledging in 17–19 days. Several broods may be raised in a season.

Feeding

It forages mainly on the ground, in leaf litter in the forest and forest clearings, as well as on lawns, for small

invertebrate Invertebrates are a paraphyletic group of animals that neither possess nor develop a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''backbone'' or ''spine''), derived from the notochord. This is a grouping including all animals apart from the chordate ...

s, including insects, snails and earthworms, seeds and fallen fruit.

Status and conservation

In 2000 the population of the Christmas thrush was estimated to comprise some 4000 birds. The main threat to the subspecies, as well as to other Christmas Island endemic birds, is predation of its nestlings by introduced

yellow crazy ant The yellow crazy ant (''Anoplolepis gracilipes''), also known as the long-legged ant or Maldive ant, is a species of ant, thought to be native to West Africa or Asia. They have been accidentally introduced to numerous places in the world's trop ...

s. It was listed by the Australian Government as being Critically Endangered,Garnett & Crowley (2000), p.617. now

Endangered An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and in ...

Notes

References

* Garnett, Stephen T.; & Crowley, Gabriel M. (2000). ''The Action Plan for Australian Birds 2000''. Environment Australia: Canberra.

* Higgins, P.J.; Peter, J.M.; & Cowling, S.J. (eds). 2006. Handbook of Australian, New Zealand and Antarctic Birds. Volume 7: Boatbill to Starlings. Oxford University Press: Melbourne. Turdus, Christmas thrush Birds of Christmas Island Christmas thrush Subspecies {{Turdidae-stub