Sulawesi mountain-thrush

Sulawesi mountain-thrush
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Turdidae
Genus: Zoothera
Species: Z. heinrichi
Binomial name
Zoothera heinrichi
(Stresemann, 1931)
Synonyms

Geomalia heinrichi

The Sulawesi mountain-thrush (Zoothera heinrichi) is a rare member of the thrush family endemic to Sulawesi in Indonesia.[2][3] It is sometimes classified as Geomalia heinrichi, in which case it is monotypic in the genus Geomalia.

The coloration of the bird is primarily dark brown with chestnut color on the breast. The long legs, long tail and short wings struck the discoverer as reminiscent of laughingthrushes, and the name Geomalia is itself a reference to another, superficially similar Sulawesi endemic, the malia, but the two species are not related.

The scientific name commemorates its discoverer, the German explorer Gerd Heinrich.

Due to its isolation and the difficulty of getting to its habitat, the Sulawesi mountain-thrush is little-studied, and there has been some debate as to whether the species belongs in the thrush family. The species may be threatened by uncontrolled logging and other activities that cause degradation of the Sulawesi highlands, including the grounds of legally protected lands such as Lore Lindu National Park. It is listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List.

References

  1. BirdLife International (2012). "Geomalia heinrichi". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2013.2. International Union for Conservation of Nature. Retrieved 26 November 2013.
  2. Olsson U.,Alström P. (2013). Molecular evidence suggests that the enigmatic Sulawesi endemic species belongs in the genus Zoothera (Turdidae, Aves). Chinese Birds 4 (2): 155–160.
  3. Gill F. and Donsker D. (eds), Family Turdidae in «IOC World Bird Names (ver 4.1)», International Ornithologists’ Union, 2014.

External links

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