Bare-eyed Thrush

The Bare-eyed Thrush (Turdus nudigenis) is a resident breeding bird in the Lesser Antilles and in South America from Columbia and Venezuela, south and east to northern Brazil. The bare-eyed thrush is also called the yellow-eyed thrush and in Trinidad and Tobago it is known as the “˜Big Eye Grieve’.

The Bare-eyed Thrush is 23-24 cm long and weighs 60g. It is plain olive-brown above and paler brown below. The throat is brown-streaked off-white, and the lower belly is whitish. The habitat of this large thrush is open woodland, forest clearings and cultivation. The nest is a lined bulky cup of twigs low in a tree. The two to three reddish-blotched deep-blue eggs are incubated by the female alone.

There are two poorly defined races, differing mainly in the darkness of the plumage. Sexes are similar, but young birds are flecked above and spotted below, and have a thinner eye ring.

The Bare-eyed Thrush mainly feeds on or near the ground on fruit, berries and some insects and earthworms. It is a shy species, but on Trinidad and Tobago it is much tamer, and will come to feeders and take food from tables.