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Gray Ground-Thrush Geokichla princei Scientific name definitions

Nigel Collar
Version: 1.0 — Published March 4, 2020
Text last updated January 1, 2005

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Originally Appeared in

HBW Alive

Field Identification

21–22 cm; 59–83 g. Nominate race dark greyish-brown above, with rusty rump and uppertail-coverts; distinctive broad dark double bar on paler face; dark brown flight-feathers, with two well-marked white wingbars; dull twany-buff below, merging into white of belly; bill dark; legs pale pinkish-flesh. Resembles a large G. camaronensis, but greyer and darker above. Sexes similar. Juvenile is as adult, but rustier with buff shaft streaks above, dark-spotted rufous-brown below. Race batesi is more olive-brown above, throat duller, flanks brown-tinged greyish; very similar to race graueri of G. camaro­nensis.

Systematics History

Editor's Note: This article requires further editing work to merge existing content into the appropriate Subspecies sections. Please bear with us while this update takes place.

Duller race batesi has been considered closely related to race graueri of G. camaronensis. Two subspecies recognized.

Subspecies

EBIRD GROUP (MONOTYPIC)

Gray Ground-Thrush (Prince's) Geokichla princei princei Scientific name definitions

Geokichla princei princei
G. p. princei

Distribution

E Sierra Leone and Liberia E to Ghana.
EBIRD GROUP (MONOTYPIC)

Gray Ground-Thrush (Bates's) Geokichla princei batesi Scientific name definitions

Geokichla princei batesi
G. p. batesi

Distribution

S Nigeria, W and S Cameroon and N Gabon; NE DRCongo and W Uganda.

Distribution

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.

Habitat

Lowland primary forest, riverine forest and moist secondary growth, to 550 m in Liberia and 610 m in Cameroon. Keeps to dense shrubby undergrowth and vine tangles, sometimes with herbaceous carpet such as Marantaceae, and often in vicinity of water.

Movement

Sedentary in Gabon, and probably throughout range.

Diet and Foraging

Recorded food items to date only animals, mainly invertebrates such as earthworms, snails, millipedes and insects, including grasshoppers and beetles and their larvae; also occasionally small frogs. Forages on ground among leaf litter, digging in moss and debris on rotting wood. Sometimes joins mixed-species flocks or follows army ants. In DRCongo (Ituri Forest), captured where understorey very open, with short (c. 40 cm) herb layer of Marantaceae and Zingiberaceae.

Sounds and Vocal Behavior

Song unknown. Call a long high rolling trill, “tsssrrr”, used for contact, and thin high “siiip” in alarm.

Breeding

Jun and Aug in Liberia, Aug in Nigeria and Oct–Apr in Gabon; breeding-condition birds Mar–Apr in Cameroon; Jun and Oct in DRCongo. Nest a bulky open cup of twigs, plant stems and dead leaves, lined with rootlets and fibres, placed on mat of earthy debris and vegetation 1·5–3 m up in fork in crown of understorey tree. Eggs 1–3, turquoise-blue to emerald-green with lilac undermarkings to reddish-brown spotting and blotching; no information on incubation period; nestling period c. 12 days. In one study, eleven out of 13 nests found were destroyed by predators.

Conservation Status

Conservation status on Birdlife LC Least Concern
Not globally threatened. Considered rare in W Africa, but present in Comoé and Taï Forest National Parks, in Ivory Coast, and locally common in parts of Liberia, e.g. fairly common in Sapo National Park; rare in Korup National Park, in Cameroon. Density in Gabon 1 pair/12 ha (c. 8 pairs/km²). In DRCongo, density in undisturbed habitat in Ituri Forest higher than in adjacent Uganda, suggesting that it may be susceptible to disturbance; in Uganda restricted to Semliki Forest. Vulnerable to forest loss.
Distribution of the Gray Ground-Thrush - Range Map
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Distribution of the Gray Ground-Thrush

eBird and Macaulay Library

Recommended Citation

Collar, N. (2020). Gray Ground-Thrush (Geokichla princei), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.grygrt1.01
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