bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...

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 ...

Indian Subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a physiographic region of Asia below the Himalayas which projects into the Indian Ocean between the Bay of Bengal to the east and the Arabian Sea to the west. It is now divided between Bangladesh, India, and Pakista ...

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...

Geokichla The ''Geokichla'' thrushes are medium-sized mostly insectivorous or omnivorous birds in the thrush (bird), thrush family, Turdidae. They were traditionally listed in the ''Zoothera'', but molecular phylogenetic studies published in 2008 led to th ...

omnivorous An omnivore () is an animal that regularly consumes significant quantities of both plant and animal matter. Obtaining energy and nutrients from plant and animal matter, omnivores digest carbohydrates, protein, fat, and fiber, and metabolize ...

insects Insects (from Latin ') are hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body (head, thorax and abdomen), three pairs of jointed ...

earthworm An earthworm is a soil-dwelling terrestrial invertebrate that belongs to the phylum Annelida. The term is the common name for the largest members of the class (or subclass, depending on the author) Oligochaeta. In classical systems, they we ...

Rasmussen The surname Rasmussen () is a Danish and Norwegian surname, meaning ''Rasmus' son''. It is the ninth-most-common surname in Denmark, shared by about 1.9% of the population.John C. Anderton, Anderton (2005) suggest that this complex may consist of more than one species. *''G. c. citrina'', the nominate subspecies breeds from northern

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

east along the

Himalayas The Himalayas, or Himalaya ( ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the Earth's highest peaks, including the highest, Mount Everest. More than list of h ...

to eastern

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

and possibly in western and northern Burma. It winters further south in

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

,

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

and

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

. *''G. c. cyanota'' is mainly resident in Peninsular

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

south to

Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...

. It has a white throat and face sides, with two black stripes running downwards from below the eyes. The spelling emendation ''cyanota'' is suggested by Rasmussen and Anderton. *''G. c. amadoni'' (not always recognized) found in northeastern part of peninsular

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

(Madhya Pradesh and Orissa) has brighter orange crown and longer wings than ''cyanota''. *''G. c. innotata'' breeds through most of South-East Asia from southern Burma and southwestern China to northwest

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

, central and southern

Laos Laos, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic (LPDR), is the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by Myanmar and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the southeast, and Thailand to the west and ...

,

Cambodia Cambodia, officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. It is bordered by Thailand to the northwest, Laos to the north, and Vietnam to the east, and has a coastline ...

and southern

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

. It winter further south in southern Burma, and much of the rest of Thailand into Malaysia. It is very similar to the nominate but the male is brighter or deeper orange and lacks white tips to the median coverts; the female is duller on head and underparts, with an olive tinge to the grey of the mantle and back. *''G. c. melli'' breeds in southeastern China, and is partially migratory, regularly wintering in

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

. *''G. c. courtoisi'' breeds in eastern-central China; its wintering range is unknown. *''G. c. aurimacula'' breeds in southern Vietnam,

Hainan Hainan is an island provinces of China, province and the southernmost province of China. It consists of the eponymous Hainan Island and various smaller islands in the South China Sea under the province's administration. The name literally mean ...

and possibly northern Laos. It resembles ''G. c. cyanota'', but with a less defined head pattern. The face and neck-sides are whitish but flecked with orange or brownish and with weaker face stripes. The orange breast and flanks become paler orange on the belly and lower flanks. *''G. c. andamensis'' is resident in the

Andaman Islands The Andaman Islands () are an archipelago, made up of 200 islands, in the northeastern Indian Ocean about southwest off the coasts of Myanmar's Ayeyarwady Region. Together with the Nicobar Islands to their south, the Andamans serve as a mari ...

. *''G. c. albogularis'' is resident in the

Nicobar Islands The Nicobar Islands are an archipelago, archipelagic island chain in the eastern Indian Ocean. They are located in Southeast Asia, northwest of Aceh on Sumatra, and separated from Thailand to the east by the Andaman Sea. Located southeast of t ...

. *''G. c. gibsonhilli'' breeds from southern Burma to southern Thailand, and winters further south at lower levels in Peninsular Thailand, on islands in the

Gulf of Thailand The Gulf of Thailand (), historically known as the Gulf of Siam (), is a shallow inlet adjacent to the southwestern South China Sea, bounded between the southwestern shores of the Indochinese Peninsula and the northern half of the Malay Peninsula. ...

, and into

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

. It is similar to the nominate subspecies, but averages slightly brighter or deeper orange on head and upperparts and also has a slightly longer, heavier bill, and white tips to the median coverts. *''G. c. aurata'' is resident in the mountains of northern

Borneo Borneo () is the List of islands by area, third-largest island in the world, with an area of , and population of 23,053,723 (2020 national censuses). Situated at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, it is one of the Greater Sunda ...

. *''G. c. rubecula'' is resident in Western Java. *''G. c. orientis'' is resident in Eastern Java and

Bali Bali (English:; Balinese language, Balinese: ) is a Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia and the westernmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands. East of Java and west of Lombok, the province includes the island of Bali and a few smaller o ...

and intergrades with ''G. c. rubecula'' in the west of its range. The separation of this form from the western Javan subspecies has been questioned.

Measurements

The following table summarises selected physical measurements for those subspecies for which data is available.

Distribution and habitat

The orange-headed thrush breeds in much of the

Indian Subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a physiographic region of Asia below the Himalayas which projects into the Indian Ocean between the Bay of Bengal to the east and the Arabian Sea to the west. It is now divided between Bangladesh, India, and Pakista ...

, including

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

,

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

and

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

, and through

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...

to

Java Java is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea (a part of Pacific Ocean) to the north. With a population of 156.9 million people (including Madura) in mid 2024, proje ...

and southern China. Its habitat is moist broadleaved evergreen woodlands, with a medium-density undergrowth of bushes and

fern The ferns (Polypodiopsida or Polypodiophyta) are a group of vascular plants (plants with xylem and phloem) that reproduce via spores and have neither seeds nor flowers. They differ from mosses by being vascular, i.e., having specialized tissue ...

s, but it also utilises

bamboo Bamboos are a diverse group of mostly evergreen perennial plant, perennial flowering plants making up the subfamily (biology), subfamily Bambusoideae of the grass family Poaceae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family, in th ...

forests for secondary growth. ''G. c. cyanota'' also occurs in large gardens and orchards. This species is often found in damp areas, near streams or in shady ravines. It occurs between 250 and 1830 metres (825– 6040 ft) in the Himalayas and up to about 1500 metres (5000 ft) in Malaysia, Thailand and Java. ''G. c. aurata'' is resident between 1000 and 1630 metres (3300–5400 ft) on Mt Kinabalu and Mt Trus Madi, northern Borneo. Some of the subspecies are completely or partially migratory; their wintering habitat is similar to the breeding forests, but more likely to be at lower altitudes.

Description

The orange-headed thrush is 205–235 milliimetres (8.1–9.25 in) long and weighs 47–60 grammes (1.7–2.1 oz). The adult male of the nominate subspecies of this small thrush has an entirely orange head and underparts, uniformly grey upperparts and wings, and white median and undertail coverts. It has a slate-coloured bill and the legs and feet have brown fronts and pink or yellowish rears. The female resembles the male but has browner or more olive upperparts and warm brown wings, but some old females are almost identical to the male. The juvenile is dull brown with buff streaks on its back, and a rufous tone to the head and face; it has grey wings. The bill is brownish horn, and the legs and feet are brown. This species' orange and grey plumage is very distinctive, and it is unlikely to be confused with any other species. Differences between the subspecies, as described above, can be quite striking, as with the strong head pattern on ''G. c. cyanota'', but may be less obvious variations in plumage tone, or whether there is white on the folded wing. As with many other thrushes, all forms of this species shows a distinctive underwing pattern, with a strong white band.

Voice

Calls of the orange-headed thrush include a soft ' or ', a screeching ', and a thin ' or ' given in flight. However, this bird is generally silent especially in winter. The song is a loud clear series of variably sweet lilting musical notes, recalling the quality of the

common blackbird The common blackbird (''Turdus merula'') is a species of true thrush. It is also called the Eurasian blackbird (especially in North America, to distinguish it from the unrelated New World blackbirds), or simply the blackbird. It breeds in Europ ...

, but with the more repetitive structure of the

song thrush The song thrush (''Turdus philomelos'') is a Thrush (bird), thrush that breeds across the West Palearctic. It has brown upper-parts and black-spotted cream or buff underparts and has four recognised subspecies. Its distinctive Birdsong, song, w ...

. It also includes imitations of other birds like

bulbul The bulbuls are members of a family, Pycnonotidae, of medium-sized passerine songbirds, which also includes greenbuls, brownbuls, leafloves, and bristlebills. The family is distributed across most of Africa and into the Middle East, tropic ...

s,

babbler Babbler may refer to: * Various small passerine birds: ** The Old World babblers, a large family of mostly Old World passerine birds ** The Ground babblers of family Pellorneidae ** Many species in the genera ''Argya'' and ''Turdoides'' in family ...

s and

common tailorbird The common tailorbird (''Orthotomus sutorius'') is a songbird found across tropical Asia. Popular for its nest made of leaves "sewn" together and immortalized by Rudyard Kipling as ''Darzee'' in his ''Jungle Book'', it is a common resident in urb ...

. It sings from a perch in a leafy tree, mostly early morning and late afternoon.

Behaviour

The orange-headed thrush is a shy, secretive bird usually occurring alone or in pairs, but is comparatively more easily seen than many other ''Geokichla'' thrushes, and several birds may congregate outside the breeding season at a good food source. It has a swift, silent flight, but when disturbed will often sit motionless until the threat has passed.

Breeding

The nest, built by both sexes, is a wide but shallow cup of twigs, bracken and rootlets lined with softer plant material like leaves, moss and

conifer Conifers () are a group of conifer cone, cone-bearing Spermatophyte, seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Scientifically, they make up the phylum, division Pinophyta (), also known as Coniferophyta () or Coniferae. The division contains a sin ...

needles. It is constructed at a height of up to 4.5 metres (15 ft) in a small tree or bush, with

mango A mango is an edible stone fruit produced by the tropical tree '' Mangifera indica''. It originated from the region between northwestern Myanmar, Bangladesh, and northeastern India. ''M. indica'' has been cultivated in South and Southeast As ...

trees and

coffee Coffee is a beverage brewed from roasted, ground coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content, but decaffeinated coffee is also commercially a ...

bushes being preferred. Three or four, occasionally five, eggs are laid; they are cream or tinted with pale blue, grey or green, and have pale lilac blotches and reddish brown spots. They are incubated for 13–14 days to hatching, with another 12 days until the young birds leave the nest. This species is a host of the pied cuckoo, ''Clamator jacobinus'', a

brood parasite Brood may refer to: Nature * Brood, a collective term for offspring * Brooding, the incubation of bird eggs by their parents * Bee brood, the young of a beehive * Individual broods of North American periodical cicadas: ** Brood X, the largest ...

which lay a single egg in the nest. Unlike the

common cuckoo The cuckoo, common cuckoo, European cuckoo or Eurasian cuckoo (''Cuculus canorus'') is a member of the cuckoo order of birds, Cuculiformes, which includes the Geococcyx, roadrunners, the ani (bird), anis and the coucals. This species is a widesp ...

, neither the hen nor the hatched chick evict the host's eggs, but the host's young often die because they cannot compete successfully with the

cuckoo Cuckoos are birds in the Cuculidae ( ) family, the sole taxon in the order Cuculiformes ( ). The cuckoo family includes the common or European cuckoo, roadrunners, koels, malkohas, couas, coucals, and anis. The coucals and anis are somet ...

for food. The

chestnut-winged cuckoo The chestnut-winged cuckoo or red-winged crested cuckoo (''Clamator coromandus'') is a cuckoo found in Southeast Asia and parts of South Asia. It has dark glossy upperparts, a black head with long crest chestnut wings, a long graduated glossy bla ...

, ''Clamator coromandus'', and, very rarely, the common cuckoo, ''Cuculus canorus'' have also been claimed as parasites on this species.

Feeding

The orange-headed thrush feeds on the ground in dense undergrowth or other thick cover. It is most active at dawn and dusk, probing the leaf litter for insects and their larvae, spiders, other

invertebrate Invertebrates are animals that neither develop nor retain a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''spine'' or ''backbone''), which evolved from the notochord. It is a paraphyletic grouping including all animals excluding the chordata, chordate s ...

s and fruit. In Malaysia, wintering birds regularly feed on figs.

Status

The orange-headed thrush has an extensive range, estimated at . The population size has not been quantified, but it is believed to be large due to its extensive range; it also reported as being locally common. The species is not believed to approach the thresholds for the global population decline criterion of the IUCN Red List (i.e., declining more than 30% in ten years or three generations), and is therefore 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 ...

. It is very popular as cage-bird on Java, and numbers have severely declined in recent years owing to trapping for

aviculture Aviculture is the practice of keeping and breeding birds, especially of wild birds in captivity. Aviculture Aviculture is the practice of keeping birds (class '' Aves'') in captivity in controlled conditions, normally within the confines of a ...

. Against the trend in Southeast Asia where loss or fragmentation of woodland poses a threat to forest birds, the orange-headed thrush has colonized Hong Kong, where it was first recorded in 1956, thanks to forest maturation.

Gallery

File:Geokichla citrina, orange-headed thrush - Khao Yai National Park.webm, Geokichla citrina, orange-headed thrush -

Khao Yai National Park Khao Yai National Park is a List of national parks of Thailand, national park in Thailand. Established in 1962 as Thailand's first national park, it is the third largest national park in Thailand. Description Khao Yai National Park is in the ...

,

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

Image:Geokichla citrina, orange-headed thrush.jpg, Geokichla citrina, orange-headed thrush -

Khao Yai National Park Khao Yai National Park is a List of national parks of Thailand, national park in Thailand. Established in 1962 as Thailand's first national park, it is the third largest national park in Thailand. Description Khao Yai National Park is in the ...

,

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

File:Orange headed thrush (Z. c. cyanotus).jpg, An orange-headed thrush (ssp. cyanota) at

Dandeli Wildlife Sanctuary Dandeli Wildlife Sanctuary is located in Uttara Kannada District of Karnataka state in India. The sanctuary covers an area of . around the city of Dandeli. Along with neighboring Anshi National Park (), the sanctuary was declared part of the ...

,

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

File:Orange-headed thrush (Geokichla citrina cyanota).jpg, Orange-headed Thrush (Geokichla citrina cyanota) at

Bhadra Wildlife Sanctuary Bhadra Wildlife Sanctuary is a Protected areas of India, protected area and tiger reserves of India, tiger reserve as part of the Project Tiger, situated in Chikkamagaluru district, south of Bhadravati, Karnataka, Bhadravathi city, 20 km from ...

,

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

Geokichla citrina MHNT.ZOO.2010.11.189.13.jpg, ''Geokichla citrina '' - MHNT

References

External links

Videos on the Internet Bird Collection
{{Taxonbar, from=Q26833749, from2=Q599334

orange-headed thrush The orange-headed thrush (''Geokichla citrina'') is a bird in the thrush family. It is common in well-wooded areas of the Indian Subcontinent and Southeast Asia. Most populations are resident. The species shows a preference for shady damp areas ...

Birds of Indomalaya

orange-headed thrush The orange-headed thrush (''Geokichla citrina'') is a bird in the thrush family. It is common in well-wooded areas of the Indian Subcontinent and Southeast Asia. Most populations are resident. The species shows a preference for shady damp areas ...

Articles containing video clips

Taxonomy

Measurements

Distribution and habitat

Description

Voice

Behaviour

Breeding

Feeding

Status

Gallery

References

External links