Bassian Thrushes are rainforest birds. Their
plumage is highly
cryptic.
They have a scaly pattern basically all over their body,
with a near-white front with mid- to dark-brown scales on
the front and some light-brown tint on the chest. The back
is almsot all olive-brown, with near-black scales. The
eyes are surrounded by a light-grey eye-ring and lores.
The wing feathers are dark greyish-brown with lighter-brown
leading edges. The tail is also dark greyish-brown.
The eyes have dark-brown irises. The bill is grey, the legs
and feet are pinkish-grey.
Twitcher's tip
Compared with
Russet-tailed Thrushes,
Bassian Thrushes have more colour contrast on the head and especially
the median wing coverts and less brown on rump and uppertail.
The overall distribution of this species can be assessed, and
specific locations where birds have been spotted can be found,
based on individual sighting reports submitted by birdwatchers to
ebird.org
.
The global distribution of the Bassian Thrush is available
HERE
.
There are three races of Bassian Thrushes, all of which are endemic
to Australia. Together they populate a narrow strip along the East
and South-east coast of Australia.
Race "cuneata" is found in some of the tablelands in QLD, North of
the Burdekin River up to the Atherton Tablelands.
The range of nominate race
"lunulata"
extends from just to the West of Brisbane, QLD, in the North, along
the NSW coast and eastern slopes of the Great Dividing Range through
southern VIC to about Mt. Gambier, SA. They are also found all over
Tasmania.
The range of race
"halmaturina"
is restricted to a narrow strip to the North of the city of Adelaide,
SA, and Kangaroo Island.
A Bassian Thrush, race
"lunulata",
was first spotted by us in July 2009, at
Dorrigo NP,
NSW, at an altitude of about 1000 m. Since then Bassian Thrushes are
seen by us there regularly.
Various contributors report spotting Bassian Thrushes, race
"lunulata",
occasionally at O'Reilly's Plateau,
Lamington NP,
Gold Coast, QLD, in dense leaf litter in high-altitude (1000 m)
rainforest.
R. Plumtree reports
spotting a Bassian Thrush, race
"lunulata",
at Upper Little River Road, East Gippsland,
VIC, at an altitude of about 800 metres. Next seen along Commins Track,
East of Swifts Creek, East Gippsland, VIC, in May 2014; this bird was
spotted at an altitude of only about 550 m. Another was found on
Snowy River Road, Orbost, East Gippsland, VIC, in August 2017.
M. Mearns reports spotting a Bassian Thrush, race
"lunulata", at
Bunya Mountains NP,
QLD, in December 2015. We found a Bassian Thrush at the same location
in March 2016. This location is on the north-western edge of the species'
range.
B. Hensen found a Bassian Thrush, race
"lunulata",
on Bruny Island, TAS, in March 2016.
Photos
Race "lunulata"
ADULT
Sex unknown
Full-frontal view of a Bassian Thrush
(photo courtesy of R. Plumtree)
[Snowy River Road, Orbost, East Gippsland, VIC, in August 2017]
Near-frontal view of a Bassian Thrush
(photo courtesy of R. Plumtree)
[Snowy River Road, Orbost, East Gippsland, VIC, in August 2017]
Near-lateral view of a Bassian Thrush
(photo courtesy of R. Plumtree)
[Snowy River Road, Orbost, East Gippsland, VIC, in August 2017]
Near-lateral view of a Bassian Thrush
[Bunya Mountains NP,
QLD, March 2016]
Near-lateral view of a Bassian Thrush
[Bunya Mountains NP,
QLD, March 2016]
Lateral view of a Bassian Thrush (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[O'Reilly's Plateau,
Lamington NP,
Gold Coast, QLD, January 2020]
Lateral view of a Bassian Thrush (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Bruny Island, TAS, March 2016]
Lateral view of a Bassian Thrush (photo courtesy of
R. Plumtree)
[Little River Road, East Gippsland, VIC]
Lateral view of a Bassian Thrush spotted at a comparatively low altitude
of only 550 m (photo courtesy of R. Plumtree)
[Commins Track, East of Swifts Creek, East Gippsland, VIC, May 2014]
Near-dorsal view of a Bassian Thrush
(photo courtesy of R. Plumtree)
[Snowy River Road, Orbost, East Gippsland, VIC, in August 2017]
Near-dorsal view of a Bassian Thrush; note the characteristic
dark-brown rump and tail feathers (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Lamington NP,
QLD, February 2018]
Near-dorsal view of a Bassian Thrush in dark undergrowth
[O'Reilly's Plateau, Lamington NP, Gold Coast,
QLD, May 2014]
Dorsal view of a Bassian Thrush (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Lamington NP,
Gold Coast, QLD, February 2018]
When running on the ground, Bassian Thrushes often keep their
head low, as visible here
[Bunya Mountains NP,
QLD, March 2016]
Food, Diet
Like all ground thrushes known to us, Bassian Thrushes feed on small
insects, grubs and worms that they find in soft soil or under leaf
litter in dense, wet forests.
More Bassian Thrush sound recordings are available at
xeno-canto.org
.
These pages are largely based on our own observations and those of our
contributors.
The structure of these bird pages is explained HERE. For more salient facts on any bird species
please refer to a field guide.