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26

Russet-tailed Thrush (Zoothera heinei) Size: 26-29 cm; wing span: 38-42 cm Body mass: 83-111 g Wing loading [g/cm2]: 0.24-0.42

Australia: Family Group 26 Family Group 26 Table Australian Reed-Warbler Spinifexbird Tawny Grassbird Little Grassbird Golden-headed Cisticola Zitting Cisticola Rufous Songlark Brown Songlark Yellow White-eye Ash-bellied White-eye Silvereye Bassian Thrush Russet-tailed Thrush Metallic Starling Thumbnails page Family group table Index of bird names Habitat pages Key plants Birds home page

Similar species

Description     Classification     Distribution     Sightings     Photos     Breeding     Nest     Eggs     Behaviour     Food     Call/s

Physical description Click here for a physical description Russet-tailed 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 rump is russet-coloured, with darker scales. The tail is also russet-brown. The eyes have dark-brown irises. The bill is grey, the legs and feet are pinkish-grey. Twitcher's tip Compared with Bassian Thrushes, Russet-tailed Thrushes have paler colours on the head and especially the median wing coverts and are richer russet brown on rump and uppertail.

Taxonomy, classification See Russet-tailed Thrush at Wikipedia .

Range, habitat, finding this species Click here for information on habitat and range 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 Russet-tailed Thrush is available HERE . Russet-tailed Thrushes are found in eastern Australia and in parts of New Guinea. Russet-tailed Thrushes, race "heinei", are endemic to Australia. They populate a narrow strip along the East coast of Australia, from about the Manning River, NSW, in the South to about Eungella NP, QLD, in the North. Where to look? How to find this species? Both species of Zoothera thrushes in Australia are ground foragers. So in order to find one, one will need to cast one's eyes downward and look for subtle movement in leaf litter. Twitcher's tip Russet-tailed Thrushes are found mostly in low-elevation rainforest, whereas the closely related, and very similar, Bassian Thrushes are found mostly in rainforest at higher altitudes, e.g. on the Dorrigo Plateau (in Dorrigo NP). In order to make a secure visual ID, one will likely need to see the colour of the rump.

Sightings Click here for sighting information Race "heinei" Russet-tailed Thrushes, nominate race "heinei", were first seen by us at Wingham Brush NR in June 2011 and again in September 2011. They were found there on every subsequent visit, down to the present day. This location is on the southern border of their range, in the Manning River estuary. B. Hensen reports spotting a Russet-tailed Thrush, race "heinei", at Dorrigo NP, NSW, in February 2013. A. Ross-Taylor reports finding a Russet-tailed Thrush, race "heinei", at O'Reilly's Plateau, Lamington NP, QLD, in July 2017. M. Eaton reports spotting a Russet-tailed Thrush, race "heinei", at Brookfield, Brisbane, QLD, in December 2017. Another was found at Pullenvale, QLD, in September 2023. V. Collins reports finding a Russet-tailed Thrush, race "heinei", at Wingham Brush NR in January 2021.

Photos

Race "heinei"

ADULT

Frontal view of a Russet-tailed Thrush (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Brookfield, Brisbane, QLD, December 2017]

Partly obscured near-lateral view of a Russet-tailed Thrush in dense rainforest
[Wingham Brush NR, NSW, September 2011]

Near-lateral views of a Russet-tailed Thrush showing how very different one and the same bird can look, depending on light conditions (photos courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Pullenvale, QLD, September 2023]

Close-up lateral view of a Russet-tailed Thrush (photo courtesy of V. Collins)
[Wingham Brush NR, NSW, January 2021]

Lateral view of a Russet-tailed Thrush (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Pullenvale, QLD, September 2023]

Lateral view of a Russet-tailed Thrush (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Brookfield, Brisbane, QLD, December 2017]

Close-up lateral view of a Russet-tailed Thrush (photo courtesy of V. Collins)
[Wingham Brush NR, NSW, January 2021]

Lateral view of a Russet-tailed Thrush (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Dorrigo NP, NSW, February 2013]

Lateral/ventral view of a Russet-tailed Thrush
[Wingham Brush NR, NSW, September 2011]

Dorsal view of a Russet-tailed Thrush looking sideways (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Brookfield, Brisbane, QLD, December 2017]

Behaviour

Food, Diet

Like all ground thrushes known to us, Russet-tailed Thrushes feed on small insects, grubs and worms that they find in soft soil or under leaf litter in dense, wet forests.

Near-lateral view of a Russet-tailed Thrush with food for its brood (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Pullenvale, QLD, September 2023]

Near-dorsal view of a Russet-tailed Thrush with food for its brood (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Pullenvale, QLD, September 2023]

Near-dorsal view of a Russet-tailed Thrush with food for its brood (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Pullenvale, QLD, September 2023]

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.