Grey-backed Thrush

Grey-backed Thrush (Turdus hortulorum) is a medium East Asian thrush whose male has a grey back and head, orange breast and flanks and white belly. Body shape, bill structure, plumage pattern and voice provide the strongest field characters. Age, sex and season may alter its appearance, so identification should combine several features and careful direct field comparisons with similar species in the same habitat (Wikipedia, general species account).

It breeds in temperate forest in north-eastern China, the Russian Far East and North Korea, feeds on invertebrates and fruit and migrates mainly to southern China and northern Vietnam. Its movements and social behaviour vary through the year, with breeding birds generally more dispersed and non-breeding birds gathering where food is concentrated. Japanese records place it within the country's documented avifauna as a resident, migrant or visitor (Wikipedia, general species account; Wildlife of Japan occurrence records).