Two species of shrike-thrush are commonly seen at Paluma — the Little Shrike-Thrush (Colluricincla megarhyncha) and Bowers Shrike-Thrush (Colluricincla boweri). They are not easy to disambiguate even with a clear picture and a few bird books, as colour and distinguishing features vary quite a lot by gender and age for both species. The name doesn’t help as the Bowers Shrike-Thrush is smaller than the Little Shrike-Thrush.
This specimen posed for the camera on one of Jan Cooke’s tomato plants in April. Jan thinks this is probably a Little Shrike-Thrush.
Text & Photo by Peter Cooke
I always thought that Little Shrike Thrush (Rufous Shrike Thrush) have light coloured bills (Little – light) and Bower’s Shrike Thrush which we don’t see very often in Paluma, have darker bills as this one does. Happy to be corrected.
Wendy Kaus