The grey shrikethrush or grey shrike-thrush (''Colluricincla harmonica''), formerly commonly known as grey thrush, is a

songbird A songbird is a bird belonging to the suborder Passeri of the perching birds (Passeriformes). Another name that is sometimes seen as the scientific or vernacular name is Oscines, from Latin ''oscen'', "songbird". The Passeriformes contains 5,00 ...

of Australasia. It is moderately common to common in most parts of Australia, but absent from the driest of the inland deserts. It is also found in

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; , fossilized , also known as Papua or historically ) is the List of islands by area, world's second-largest island, with an area of . Located in Melanesia in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is ...

Taxonomy and systematics

The grey shrikethrush was originally described in the genus ''

Turdus ''Turdus'' is a genus of medium-sized mostly insectivorous or omnivorous birds in the wider thrush family, Turdidae. The genus name ''Turdus'' is Latin for 'thrush'. Most of the species are called thrushes; the term thrush is also used for man ...

''. Alternate names include the brown shrike-thrush, buff-bellied shrike-thrush, grey shrike-flycatcher, northern shrike-thrush and south-western shrike-thrush.

Subspecies

Five subspecies are recognized: * ''C. h. brunnea'' -

Gould Gould may refer to: People * Gould (name), a surname Places United States * Gould, Arkansas, a city * Gould, Colorado, an unincorporated community * Gould, Ohio, an unincorporated community * Gould, Oklahoma, a town * Gould, West Virginia, an ...

, 1841: Originally described as a separate species. Found in northern Australia and Melville Island * ''C. h. superciliosa'' - Masters, 1876: Originally described as a separate species. Found in eastern New Guinea, islands in the Torres Strait and north-eastern Australia * ''C. h. harmonica'' - ( Latham, 1801): Found in eastern Australia * ''C. h. strigata'' - Swainson, 1838: Originally described as a separate species. Found in

Tasmania Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...

and the islands in the

Bass Strait Bass Strait () is a strait separating the island state of Tasmania from the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland (more specifically the coast of Victoria (Australia), Victoria, with the exception of the land border across Boundary Islet). The ...

(Australia) * Western shrikethrush (''C. h. rufiventris'') - Gould, 1841: Originally described as a separate species. Found in western, southern and central Australia

Description

Of medium size (about long) and lacking bright colours, the grey shrikethrush—usually just ''thrush'' in casual conversation—has an extraordinary gift for ringing melody, unmatched by any other Australasian species save perhaps the two

lyrebird A lyrebird is either of two species of ground-dwelling Australian birds that compose the genus ''Menura'', and the family Menuridae. They are most notable for their impressive ability to mimic natural and artificial sounds from their environme ...

s and its northern relative, the

sandstone shrikethrush The sandstone shrikethrush (''Colluricincla woodwardi'') is a species of bird in the family Pachycephalidae. It is endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state ...

Status

The grey shrikethrush is evaluated as

least concern A least-concern species is a species that has been evaluated and categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as not being a focus of wildlife conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wil ...

on the

IUCN Red List The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is an inventory of the global conservation status and extinction risk of biological ...

of Threatened Species.

Gallery

CSIRO ScienceImage 3102 Grey Shrikethrush.jpg, In Victoria Colluricincla harmonica -Tasmania-8.jpg, In Tasmania Grey Shrike-thrush.ogg, In Queensland Grey Shrike-thrush juvenile (Colluricincla harmonica) (15949091963).jpg, Juvenile Colluricincla harmonica Dorrigo NSW.jpg, Dorrigo, NSW, Australia

References

External links

Photos and recording by Graeme Chapman

Sonograms on Xeno-canto

Photos and recordings on eBird
grey shrikethrush Birds of Australia Birds of New Guinea grey shrikethrush Articles containing video clips {{Pachycephalidae-stub