Finsch's rufous thrush (''Stizorhina finschi''), also known as Finsch's flycatcher-thrush, Finsch's rusty flycatcher, Finsch's ant thrush or Finsch's rufous ant thrush, is a little-known flycatcher-like

thrush Thrush may refer to: Birds * Thrush (bird), any of the birds in the family Turdidae ** List of thrush species * Antthrushes, the Formicariidae family of birds * Dohrn's warbler, or Dohrn's thrush-babbler, a species ''Sylvia dohrni'' in the famil ...

West Africa West Africa, also known as Western Africa, is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations geoscheme for Africa#Western Africa, United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Gha ...

n forests. It is often considered a subspecies of Fraser's rufous thrush.

Range and habitat

This species lives at low levels in the thickest parts of forests, often near streams or damp areas or in wooded swamps, from sea level to 1500 meters (about 5,000 ft), in the southern parts of

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone, officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered to the southeast by Liberia and by Guinea to the north. Sierra Leone's land area is . It has a tropical climate and envi ...

Liberia Liberia, officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to Guinea–Liberia border, its north, Ivory Coast to Ivory Coast–Lib ...

Ghana Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...

Benin Benin, officially the Republic of Benin, is a country in West Africa. It was formerly known as Dahomey. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the north-west, and Niger to the north-east. The majority of its po ...

, and

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

. (A record from southern

Togo Togo, officially the Togolese Republic, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Ghana to Ghana–Togo border, the west, Benin to Benin–Togo border, the east and Burkina Faso to Burkina Faso–Togo border, the north. It is one of the le ...

may represent a small population there.) It is sedentary (does not

migrate Migration, migratory, or migrate may refer to: Human migration * Human migration, physical movement by humans from one region to another ** International migration, when peoples cross state boundaries and stay in the host state for some minimum le ...

). It is rare in many areas, but common in some.

Description

Finsch's flycatcher-thrushes are long. Adults are brown above and orangish below, more gray or olive on the nape and breast and more

rufous Rufous () is a color that may be described as reddish-brown or brownish- red, as of rust or oxidised iron. The first recorded use of ''rufous'' as a color name in English was in 1782. However, the color is also recorded earlier in 1527 as a d ...

at the rear of the body. The tail is dark brown with white corners. The cheeks and throat are pale with gray and orange tints. Immatures are undescribed. The voice is similar to that of the rufous flycatcher-thrush. In Liberia it sings from May to October. The song is four melodious whistles, "''hooee, hooee hooee-huEE'', slower and lower-pitched than song of Rufous Flycatcher Thrush". One call is four rapidly repeated notes, "''tswe-tswe-tswe-tswe''" with the variant "''tsw-tsee… tsweeeee''"; another is "a long, plaintive whistle ''wee… weeeee-eee''." In alarm caused by predators it gives a "buzzing ''word-word-word''." Unlike the rufous flycatcher-thrush, this species responds to recordings of its call.

Behavior

Finsch's flycatcher-thrush usually occurs alone or in pairs. During the breeding season it is highly territorial, but at other times it may join mixed-species flocks at ant swarms. However, it relies much less on ant swarms than two of its fellow members of the genus ''

Neocossyphus The ant thrushes are medium-sized insectivorous birds in the genus ''Neocossyphus'' of the thrush family Turdidae. These are African forest dwelling species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two in ...

'', the white-tailed and

red-tailed ant thrush The red-tailed ant thrush (''Neocossyphus rufus''), also known as the red-tailed rufous thrush, is a species of bird in the family Turdidae. It is found in Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Con ...

es. Instead it catches insects in its beak like a flycatcher, hawking from perches or taking them from under leaves while it hovers. Favored insects include termites, grasshoppers, ants, beetles, flies, and various small species. It may sit for a long time without moving on a horizontal perch. It often flicks its outer

rectrices Flight feathers (''Pennae volatus'') are the long, stiff, asymmetrically shaped, but symmetrically paired pennaceous feathers on the Bird wing, wings or tail of a bird; those on the wings are called remiges (), singular remex (), while those ...

to the side "in scissor-like fashion". In Nigeria, a bird was seen in March collecting nesting material at the base of an

epiphyte An epiphyte is a plant or plant-like organism that grows on the surface of another plant and derives its moisture and nutrients from the air, rain, water (in marine environments) or from debris accumulating around it. The plants on which epiphyt ...

. In Liberia, birds have been observed in breeding condition from June to December and independent young in September. Little else is known about this species' reproduction.

Taxonomy

Some authorities

lump Lump may refer to: * "Lump" (song), a 1995 song by The Presidents of the United States of America * ''Lump'' (compilation album), a 2000 best-of album by The Presidents of the United States of America * Lump (dog), a dog who inspired Pablo Pic ...

this species with Fraser's rufous thrush, partly because of observations of birds in southern Nigeria with plumage and songs between those of the two species. Here it is treated as a separate species following the ''

Handbook of the Birds of the World The ''Handbook of the Birds of the World'' (HBW) is a multi-volume series produced by the Spanish publishing house Lynx Edicions in partnership with BirdLife International. It is the first handbook to cover every known living species of bird. ...

'' and other authorities. The specific epithet honors the explorer

Otto Finsch Friedrich Hermann Otto Finsch (8 August 1839, Warmbrunn – 31 January 1917, Braunschweig) was a German ethnographer, natural history, naturalist and colonial explorer. He is known for a two-volume monograph on the parrots of the world which earne ...

. It is often spelled ''finschii'', but the spelling with one ''i'' is correct.del Hoyo et al. (2005), according to Lack (2006)

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2225910

Finsch's rufous thrush Finsch's rufous thrush (''Stizorhina finschi''), also known as Finsch's flycatcher-thrush, Finsch's rusty flycatcher, Finsch's ant thrush or Finsch's rufous ant thrush, is a little-known Old World flycatcher, flycatcher-like thrush (bird), thrush ...

Birds of West Africa

Taxa named by Richard Bowdler Sharpe