Izu Thrush

Izu Thrush (Turdus celaenops) is a Japanese island thrush with a dark head, chestnut back and breast and a yellow-orange bill and eye-ring. 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 is native to the Izu Islands, where it inhabits forest and wooded settlements, searching the ground for invertebrates and taking fruit from trees and shrubs. 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).