Sri Lanka Whistling Thrush
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| Sri Lanka Whisting Thrush Conservation status: Endangered | ||||||||||||||
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| Myophonus blighi (Holdsworth,, 1872) |
The Sri Lanka Whisting Thrush, Myophonus blighi, is a whistling thrush in the thrush family Turdidae. It is a resident endemic bird in Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka Whisting Thrush is found in the highlands of Sri Lanka in jungle or other dense forest near water. It is omnivorous, eating a wide range of insects, frogs, worms and berries. It nests in bushes or similar, laying one or two eggs in a neat cup-shaped nest on a ledge near water.
It does not form flocks, although several birds may be loosely associated in suitable habitat.
This is a small whistling thrush, at only 20cm. Adult males are dark blue with a darker head and back. There are bright blue patches on the shoulders, supercilia and forehead. The female is brown above and chestnut below, but has a bright blue shoulder patch like the male.
The male sings its simple whistling song from trees, usually in deep cover.
This is a notoriously difficult species to see, even when the males are singing in the breeding season, which starts in February. It is very shy, scarce, localised and declining due to habitat loss. Perhaps the best chance is at dawn at Horton Plains National Park, 2000m up in the highlands of Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka Whistling Thrush distribution map
Reference
- Birds of India by Grimmett, Inskipp and Inskipp, ISBN 0-691-04910-6
- Thrushes by Clement and Hathaway, ISBN 0-7136-3940-7