Bird
Bird
Bare-eyed Thrush
Turdus nudigenis
The Bare-eyed Thrush is a common, plain brown thrush of gardens and forest edge across Trinidad and Tobago, readily identified by a distinctive patch of bare yellow-orange skin around the eye, unusual among the region's thrushes.
The Bare-eyed Thrush is a common, plain brown thrush of gardens and forest edge across Trinidad and Tobago, readily identified by a distinctive patch of bare yellow-orange skin around the eye, unusual among the region's thrushes.
Identification
A medium-sized thrush around 23 cm long, plain warm brown above and paler, buffy-grey below, with a distinctive bare, bright yellow-orange ring of skin around the eye, giving the species its common name and providing a reliable field mark distinguishing it from similarly plain-coloured thrushes. The bill is yellowish, and the legs are pale pinkish-yellow.
Ecology
The Bare-eyed Thrush feeds on fruit, insects, and earthworms, foraging on the ground and in low vegetation in gardens, forest edge, and cultivated land, often hopping across lawns in a manner similar to the American Robin, to which it is related. It builds an open cup nest in a tree or shrub, and its clear, melodious song is a familiar sound of gardens and semi-open habitat, especially at dawn.
Status in T&T
Common in gardens, forest edge, and cultivated land across both Trinidad and Tobago. It is not threatened and thrives alongside human settlement. It is protected under the Conservation of Wildlife Act and is not a game species.
Threats
- No significant threats; thrives alongside human settlement
