Rufous-bellied Thrush Turdus rufiventris Scientific name definitions

The Rufous-bellied Thrush is a resident of open forest, pampas and agricultural land from Bolivia east to northeastern Brazil, and south to Paraguay and to northern Argentina. A highly adaptable thrush, these birds can even be found on lawns and gardens in urban areas. Both sexes have olive-brown upperparts, a buff-brown breast, orange underparts and an orange-yellow eyering. Rufous-bellied Thrushes mainly eat fruit and insects. In southern Brazil, Rufous-bellied Thrushes have been reported to eat 28 different kinds of fruit, including the berries of Syagrus romanzoffiana, Rapanea laetevirens and Miconia cinerascens. Rufous-bellied Thrushes are common throughout their range, despite the fact that they often experience reduced productivity due to brood parasitism by Shiny Cowbirds (Molothrus bonariensis).

23–25 cm; 68–82 g. Nominate subspecies has olive-brown upperparts with browner wings and tail, brown-streaked whitish throat, buff-brown breast, pale orange on remaining underparts ; orange-yellow eyering; bill dull yellow, darker base to upper mandible; legs dull greyish. Sexes similar. Juvenile  is like adult above  , but with buff streaks from crown to scapulars, orangey tips of wing-coverts  , orange-buff with extensive brown mottling from chin to mid-belly, plainer and buffier from mid-belly to vent; immature loses streaks above, buffier lower underparts replaced with rufous, but breast spotting retained. Subspecies <em>juensis</em> is smaller but longer-billed than nominate, paler above, creamier on breast.

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See Spectacled Thrush (Turdus nudigenis). Two subspecies recognized.

Editor's Note: Additional distribution information for this taxon can be found in the 'Subspecies' article above. In the future we will develop a range-wide distribution article.

Light woodland, second growth, semi-open forest thickets, savannas, chaco, pampas, brush, forest borders, agricultural land with groves of trees and patches of bushes, villages, clearings, parks and gardens, even in urban areas, coming on to lawns when habituated; in dry regions more or less restricted to areas near water. Sea-level to 2200 m; to 2600 m in Bolivia (Cochabamba).

Sedentary.

Invertebrates  and fruit , with more of latter. Invertebrates include especially earthworms, but also woodlice, spiders and insects (notably beetles, flies, ants). Wild fruits include berries of Syagrus romanzoffiana, Rapanea laetevirens, Miconia cinerascens, Psychotria and Solanaceae; in S Brazil 28 different fruit species reported, including Rapanea acuminata, R. ferruginea, R. gardneriana, R. guyanensis, R. lineata and R. schwackeana. Forages on ground close to cover, occasionally along open borders of lagoons and pools.

Song, from cover in tops of low trees, a fast rich caroling, loud, continuous and usually varied (locally, simple and monotonous), in quality among the best turdid songsters in South America, “tü tie tütü tie juiet juiet” or “peur peeáy peur peeáy peur peeáy peur peeáy”. Calls include low clucking “pup-pup”, “djok”, warning “tsri”, resonant “juh-jóéit, drew-wip”; descending sequence  of c. 10 “drewuh” notes used in non-breeding territorial defence.

Fledglings Jan–Feb in Bolivia, mainly Aug–Nov but extending to Jan in Brazil, and Oct–Feb in Argentina; typically double-brooded in Argentina. Nest  in one instance a cup of dried stalks  and some fresh green material  , lined with rootlets, rimmed with cow dung and placed 1·3 m up in tree close to trunk, another had solid cup of hardened earth, a third was mostly of green moss and sited c. 2·4 m up in crotch of small tree in dense low wood, a fourth 1·8 m above ground in Astronium urundeuva. Eggs  2–6, usually 3, greenish or bluish with brick-red, chestnut or brownish spots and blotches; incubation  period 13–15 days; nestling period 13–14 days; post-fledging dependence 14 days. Brood parasitism by Shiny Cowbird (Molothrus bonariensis) occurs, and reduces productivity.

Not globally threatened. Common and adaptable. In Brazil, occurs in gardens in Rio de Janeiro city, and abundant in Rio Grande do Sul, but seemingly much less numerous in much of NE of the country. Mostly common in Paraguay, and very common in Uruguay. In 1920s concern was expressed that hunting in Argentina needed to be curbed in order for this species to maintain numbers, but it seems to have suffered little from this pressure, and currently judged the commonest thrush within its range in the country.