Description:

Large, long-tailed and rather pale thrush, with spotted belly. Pale brownish-grey above, with buffy-olive rump, whitish edges to wing feathers, and spotted breast. Juvenile has buffish-white spotting to upperparts; lacks golden-buff bands on wing of Scaly Thrush.

Distribution:

Common resident and altitudinal migrant all across western half of Gilgit-Baltistan, absent from Baltistan. Prefers open coniferous forest and juniper shrub, rocky areas with junipers, high montane valleys and grassy slopes; from 1500m to 3600m.

Behavior:

Forages on ground in open or under semi-open canopy, or in trees for fruit; may defend particular fruiting tree through winter against other thrush species. Feeds mainly on invertebrates and, in autumn and winter, seeds and fruits. Animal food includes adult and larval beetles, craneflies, crickets, grasshoppers; bugs , spiders, millipedes, snails, slugs and earthworms.

Photo Gallery:

Range & Occurrence:

Resident Species

Summer Breeder

Winter Visitor

Passage Migrant

Distribution Map of Mistle Thrush in Gilgit-Baltistan (Status: )

Seasonal Occurrence of Mistle Thrush

Resources:

Birds of Pakistan: Helm Field Guides (R. Grimmett & T. Inskipp)
The Birds of Pakistan (T. J. Roberts)
Birds of the Indian Subcontinent (C. Inskipp, R. Grimmett & T. Inskipp)
Birds of South Asia: The Ripley Guide (P. Rasmussen & J. Anderton)
Birds of India: Collins Field Guide (N. Arlott)
Handbook of the Birds of India and Pakistan (S. Ali & S. D. Ripley)
Handbook of the Birds of the World (https://www.hbw.com)
The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World, 6th Edition
iNaturalist BoGB (inaturalist.org/projects/birds-of-gilgit-baltistan)
Birds of Gilgit-Baltistan (http://fb.me/birdsgb)

*Gallery images on this page are shared from flickr.com, and are copyrighted to their respective creators or owners.