About Zoothera aurea (Holandre, 1825)
Zoothera aurea (Holandre, 1825) is a bird species whose sexes look similar. Adults measure 27 to 31 centimetres in length, with black scaling over a paler base coloring that can be white or yellowish. The most prominent identifying feature visible when the bird is in flight is a black band on the white underwings, a trait this species shares with the Siberian thrush. Males produce a loud, far-carrying mechanical whistle song; each one-second phrase, sounding like twee...tuuu....tuuu....tuuu, is separated by pauses of 5 to 10 seconds. This species was formerly classified as a subspecies of the scaly thrush. It breeds in wet coniferous taiga, primarily across the eastern Palearctic region from Siberia to Manchuria, Korea, and Japan. Northern populations are strongly migratory, with most individuals wintering in southeastern Asia. It is a very rare vagrant in western Europe.
