Dark-sided Thrush (Zoothera marginata)
Illustration redrawn by AI from a real photograph

Dark-sided Thrush

Zoothera marginata Blyth, 1847

≈25 cmLength81 gWeight

It is a ground thrush with a long black bill, a dark brown head and a white eye-ring.

Busiest months: February · Most records: Thailand, Vietnam, China

Least Concern

How to identify

Field marks

  1. Very long, blackish bill
  2. Dark brown head contrasting strongly with reddish-brown wings
  3. White stripe on the lores and white eye-ring
  4. Whitish throat and chin

Voice

A series of monotonous, thin whistles.

Where and when it's recorded

Dark-sided Thrush has been recorded at 66 of the 8,171 birding hotspots we track, in 8 countries and regions.

Records by month Northern Hemisphere

Where it's recorded most

  1. Doi Inthanon NP – summitThailand534 records
  2. Doi Inthanon NPThailand347 records
  3. Bidoup Nui Ba NP – Dak HoVietnam84 records
More places
  1. Doi Pha Hom Pok NP – Doi Angkhang Royal Agricultural StationThailand50 records
  2. Dinhthinh( Tim) (12,1024,108,3599)Vietnam44 records
  3. Doi Pha Hom Pok NP – Doi AngkhangThailand38 records
  4. Shiti VillageChina28 records
  5. Deo Nui San passVietnam27 records
  6. Bidoup Nui Ba NP – Cong TroiVietnam24 records
  7. SattalIndia21 records

Countries and regions with the most records

ThailandVietnamChinaNepalIndiaMyanmar (Burma)CambodiaBangladesh

eBird records via GBIF up to 2024-12-31. A record means someone listed it; more records partly mean more birders, not more birds.

About

The dark-sided thrush (Zoothera marginata) is a species of bird in the thrush family Turdidae. The species is monotypic (lacking subspecies) and is closely related to a number of thrushes in the genus Zoothera, including the long-billed thrush and the widespread scaly thrush. It was described by Edward Blyth in 1847 based upon a specimen collected in Rakhine in Burma (Myanmar).

Excerpt from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0 · authors · Read more on Wikipedia

Questions

How big is the Dark-sided Thrush?

The Dark-sided Thrush is about ≈25 cm long and weighs around 81 g.

Where does the Dark-sided Thrush live?

Its breeding range: Oriental: Himalayas to Thailand. It is most often recorded in Thailand, Vietnam and China.

When is the best time to see the Dark-sided Thrush?

At the hotspots we track, it is recorded most in February (Northern Hemisphere).

Is the Dark-sided Thrush endangered?

The IUCN Red List classifies the Dark-sided Thrush as Least Concern.

What does the Dark-sided Thrush eat?

Main food: Insects & other invertebrates.

What family is the Dark-sided Thrush in?

It belongs to the family Thrushes (Turdidae), order Passerines (Passeriformes).

At a glance

Length
≈25 cm
Weight
81 g
Habitat
Forest
Diet
Insects & other invertebrates
Lifestyle
Active on the ground
Migration
Partial migrant
Conservation
Least Concern
More measurements
Wing
121 mm
Tail
77 mm
Bill
33 mm
Tarsus
28 mm

Averages from the AVONET dataset; length from field guides where available.

Range

Oriental: Himalayas to Thailand

Breeding range, IOC World Bird List 15.2

Classification

Order
Passerines Passeriformes
Family
Thrushes Turdidae
Genus
Zoothera

Other birds in the genus Zoothera

Long-tailed ThrushLong-tailed ThrushZoothera dixoniAlpine ThrushAlpine ThrushZoothera mollissimaHimalayan ThrushHimalayan ThrushZoothera salimaliiSichuan ThrushSichuan ThrushZoothera griseicepsLong-billed ThrushLong-billed ThrushZoothera monticolaGeomaliaGeomaliaZoothera heinrichiEverett's ThrushEverett's ThrushZoothera everettiSunda ThrushSunda ThrushZoothera andromedaeWhite's ThrushWhite's ThrushZoothera aureaScaly ThrushScaly ThrushZoothera daumaNilgiri ThrushNilgiri ThrushZoothera neilgherriensisSri Lanka ThrushSri Lanka ThrushZoothera imbricata
Dark-sided Thrush

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Free to use with credit: “Illustration: Bird Album (birdalbum.com)”. Drawn by AI from a reference photo by Carlos N. G. Bocos. ↗

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