The thrushes are a passerinebirdfamily, Turdidae, with a worldwide distribution. The family was once much larger before biologists reclassified the former subfamily Saxicolinae, which includes the chats and European robins, as Old World flycatchers. Thrushes are small to medium-sized ground living birds that feed on insects, other invertebrates, and fruit. Some unrelated species around the world have been named after thrushes due to their similarity to birds in this family.
Thrushes are plump, soft-plumaged, small to medium-sized birds that inhabit wooded areas and often feed on the ground. The smallest thrush may be the shortwings, which have ambiguous alliances with both thrushes and Old World flycatchers. The lesser shortwing averages 12 cm (4+1⁄2in). The largest thrush is the great thrushat128 to 175 g (4+1⁄2to6+1⁄8oz) and 28 to 33 cm (11 to 13 in); the larger, commonly recognized blue whistling thrush is an Old world flycatcher.[1] The Amami thrush might, however, grow larger than the great thrush. Most species are grey or brown in colour, often with speckled underparts.
They are insectivorous, but most species also eat worms, land snails, and fruit (usually berries). Many species are permanently resident in warm climates, while others migrate to higher latitudes during the summer, often over considerable distances.[2]
Thrushes build cup-shaped nests, sometimes lining them with mud. They lay two to five speckled eggs, sometimes laying two or more clutches per year. Both parents help raise the young.[2] In almost all cases, the nest is placed on a branch; the only exceptions are the three species of bluebird, which nest in holes.
Turdidae species spread the seeds of plants, contributing to the dispersal of many species and the recovery of ecosystems.
Plants have limited seed dispersal mobility away from the parent plant and consequently rely upon a variety of dispersal vectors to transport their propagules, including both abiotic and biotic vectors. Seeds can be dispersed away from the parent plant individually or collectively, as well as dispersed in both space and time.
Many bats and birds rely heavily on fruits for their diet, including birds in the families Cotingidae, Columbidae, Trogonidae, Turdidae, and Ramphastidae. While eating fruit, these animals swallow seeds and then later regurgitate them or pass them in their faeces. Such ornithochory has been a major mechanism of seed dispersal across ocean barriers.
Other seeds may stick to the feet or feathers of birds and, in this way may travel long distances. Seeds of grasses, spores of algae, and the eggs of molluscs and other invertebrates commonly establish in remote areas after long journeys of this sort. The Turdidae have a great ecological importance because some populations migrate long distances and disperse the seeds of endangered plant species at new sites, helping to eliminate inbreeding and increasing the genetic diversity of local flora.
The thrush is one of the many kinds of small bird that have in the past been trapped and eaten in much of Europe; the practice is now rare.[11] Among traditional ways of cooking thrush were with polenta or grilled on a skewer, in Italy; with juniper berries in Belgium; and made into a pâtéorterrine.[11] The French cook and cookery writer Marie-Antoine Carême recommended cooking thrushes in crépinettes and serving with sauce Périgueux.[12]
^Dickinson, E.C., ed. (2003). The Howard and Moore Complete Checklist of the Birds of the World (3rd ed.). London: Christopher Helm. ISBN978-0-7136-6536-9.
^ abVoelker, G.; Spellman, G.M. (February 2004). "Nuclear and mitochondrial DNA evidence of polyphyly in the avian superfamily Muscicapoidea". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 30 (2): 386–394. doi:10.1016/S1055-7903(03)00191-X. PMID14715230.
^ abSangster, G.; Alström, P.; Forsmark, E.; Olsson, U. (October 2010). "Multi-locus phylogenetic analysis of Old World chats and flycatchers reveals extensive paraphyly at family, subfamily and genus level (Aves: Muscicapidae)". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 57 (1): 380–392. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2010.07.008. PMID20656044.
^ abGill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (January 2023). "Thrushes". IOC World Bird List Version 13.1. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 6 April 2023.
^Dickinson, E.C.; Christidis, L., eds. (2014). The Howard & Moore Complete Checklist of the Birds of the World. Volume 2, Passerines (4th ed.). Eastbourne, U.K.: Aves Press. ISBN978-0-9568611-2-2.
