what birds are in the thrush family

Taxonomy edit

175 species total in the family, categorized into 17 genera:[9]

Grandala – grandala
Sialia – bluebirds (3 species)
Stizorhina – rufous thrushes (2 species)
Neocossyphus – ant thrushes (2 species)
Pinarornis – boulder chat
Myadestes – solitaires (12 species, including one recently extinct)
Chlamydochaera – fruithunter
Cochoa – cochoas (4 species)
Ixoreus – varied thrush
Ridgwayia – Aztec thrush
Cichlopsis – rufous-brown solitaire
Entomodestes – solitaires (2 species)
Hylocichla – wood thrush
Catharus – typical American thrushes and nightingale-thrushes (13 species)
Zoothera – Asian thrushes (21 species, including one recently extinct)
Geokichla – (21 species)
Turdus – true thrushes (88 species, including one recently extinct)

See list of thrush species for more detail.

Characteristics edit

Although most species eat only insects, they also consume fruit (usually berries), worms, and land snails. Many species live in warm climates year-round, while others travel large distances during the summer to migrate to higher latitudes. [2].

Thrushes build cup-shaped nests, sometimes lining them with mud. They occasionally lay two or more clutches of speckled eggs annually, laying two to five eggs total. Both parents help in raising the young. [2] The nest is usually perched on a branch; the three species of bluebirds that nest in holes are the only exceptions.

Ecology edit

Plant seeds are dispersed by Turdidae species, which aid in the recovery of ecosystems and the dispersal of numerous species.

Due to their restricted ability to disperse their seeds far from their parent plant, plants depend on a range of dispersal vectors, including both biotic and abiotic vectors, to carry their propagules. Seeds can be dispersed in time and space, either individually or collectively, and away from the parent plant.

Fruits are an important source of nutrition for a large number of bats and birds, including those in the families Cotingidae, Columbidae, Trogonidae, Turdidae, and Ramphastidae. These animals eat fruit and swallow the seeds, which they later pass in their feces or regurgitate. One important mechanism for seed dispersal across ocean barriers has been such ornithochory.

Some seeds have the ability to adhere to the feet or feathers of birds, allowing them to fly great distances. After such lengthy travels, grass seeds, algae spores, and mollusk and other invertebrate eggs frequently settle in isolated locations. Because some populations of Turdidae migrate great distances and disperse the seeds of endangered plant species at new sites, the family plays a crucial role in the ecology by preventing inbreeding and enhancing the genetic diversity of the local flora. A.

FAQ

What birds are part of the thrush family?

Thrushes are a group of birds that includes blackbirds, song thrushes and mistle thrushes.

What makes a bird a thrush?

Generally, thrushes are slender-billed songbirds with the tarsus (lower leg) “booted”—i.e., covered in front with a single long scale instead of many short ones. The young are usually spotted in the first plumage, and there is a single annual molt.

Is a Robin a member of the thrush family?

The European robin (Erithacus rubecula), most commonly known in Anglophone Europe simply as the robin, is a small insectivorous passerine bird, specifically a chat, that was formerly classed as a member of the thrush family (Turdidae), but is now considered to be an Old World flycatcher.

Are robins and thrushes related?

The North American robin is an entirely different bird. Part of the thrush family, it’s much bigger, with a yellow beak and striking white markings around the eyes. Really the only point of commonality is that red breast.