Mirla Colorada/Chestnut-bellied Thrush/Turdus fulviventris

Nombre en español: Mirla Colorada

Nombre en inglés: Chestnut-bellied Thrush

Nombre científico: Turdus fulviventris

Familia: Turdidae

Canto: Andrew Spencer

El zorzal ventricastaño (Turdus fulviventris) también conocido como mirla colorada, mirlo ventricastaño o tordo de vientre castaño es una especie de ave paseriforme de la familia de los túrdidos. Se distribuye en el norte de América del Sur.

Distribución y hábitat

Su hábitat natural son los son bosques húmedos de montaña y los bordes del bosque entre los 1.300 y 2.700 m de altitud, en Colombia, Ecuador, Perú y Venezuela. Está clasificado como de preocupación menor por la IUCN debido a su amplia gama de distribución.

Descripción

Mide 25 cm de longitud. Presenta pico amarillento y anillo ocular anaranjado. El macho tienen la cabeza y la garganta negras, en la garganta con rayas blancas; el dorso es gris oscuro con las alas y la cola negruzcas; tiene una banda gris brillante en la parte superior del pecho; la parte inferior del pecho es anaranjada a rojiza ferruginosa; el crísum es castaño grisáceo. La coloración de la hembra es similar pero opaca.⁴

Chestnut-bellied thrush

The chestnut-bellied thrush (Turdus fulviventris) is a species of bird in the family Turdidae. It is found in Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montane forests and heavily degraded former forest.

Description

The chestnut-bellied thrush grows to a length of about 25 cm (10 in). The adult male has a black head, a black throat with some white streaking, a dark grey back and dusky wings and tail. The upper breast is pale grey and the lower breast and belly are rufous. The beak is yellow, the narrow eye ring is orange and the legs are dull yellow. The female is similar in appearance but rather duller. It is the only thrush in the genus Turdus with a rufous belly to be found in the northern Andes. The song is not often uttered, but consists of a series of disjointed phrases with some buzzes and short trills in between.

Distribution and habitat

The chestnut-bellied thrush is native to northwestern South America. Its range includes western Venezuela, western Colombia, Ecuador, northern Peru and northwestern Bolivia. Its habitat is woodland and the canopy and edges of montane forests at altitudes between 1,400 and 2,600 m (4,600 and 8,500 ft).

Ecology

This thrush often occurs singly and may also be seen in pairs, but does not usually join mixed flocks. Males may sing from high in the canopy, and both sexes often forage among the twigs and branches. It sometimes descends to ground level, particularly besides roads and trails, and turns over the leaf litter, searching for invertebrates, and may remain in one area for some time.

Status

The chestnut-bellied thrush is described as an uncommon species and the population is thought to be declining slowly as the bird’s woodland habitat is degraded. However, it has a very large range and presumably a large total population, and the International Union for Conservation of Nature has assessed its conservation status as being of «least concern».

Distribution

NE Colombia and NW Venezuela, and from SC Colombia S to Ecuador and NW Peru.

Habitat

All strata in humid subtropical montane forest, including stunted mossy cloudforest with many ericads, forest borders, tall second growth and shrubby disturbed areas, often on steep hillsides, and adjacent small clearings and roadsides; 1300–2700 m (mainly 1400–2600 m), but 1700–2300 m in Colombia.

Movement

Presumably mainly sedentary. Several records of individuals as low as 1000–1100 m in S Ecuador, Jul–Nov, may refer to post-breeding altitudinal movement; unaccountably erratic in abundance in Venezuela, generally easier to find in early part of rainy season, May–Jul.

Diet and Foraging

Fruit, including berries. Usually forages in trees, but rarely seen in fruiting trees with other species; sometimes feeds amid leaf litter on ground in semi-open areas, such as roadsides and clearings.