Clay-colored Robin

Turdus grayiOrder: PASSERIFORMESFamily: Thrushes (Turdidae)

Related Birds

American Robin
Veery
Aztec Thrush
Rufous-backed Robin
White-throated Robin

General

Clay-colored Robin: Large thrush with olive-brown upperparts, brown-streaked buff throat, and pale brown underparts. Bill is yellow-green and black-tipped. Sexes are similar. Juvenile has light spots on upperwing coverts.

Range and Habitat

Clay-colored Robin: Resident from eastern Mexico to Columbia; occurs casually in lower Rio Grande Valley in Texas. Inhabits open or semi-open areas; also forest edges, gardens, suburban lots.

Listen to Call

Voice Text

"cheerily-cheer-up-cheerio"

Interesting Facts

With their springtime songs, Clay-colored Robins are said to call in the rains at the start of Costa Rica's rainy season which begins in May.

In Panama, this species elects to breed in the dry season, despite limited food availability, presumably because the danger from predation is less.

It will follow army ants to feed on small prey disturbed by the ant columns.

A group of robins are collectively known as a "worm" of robins.

Author

Gary Owen Dick

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Bird Call Credits: The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Martyn Stewart, http://www.naturesound.org, Redmond, Washington USA. The reuse or copying of bird calls in this database is strictly forbidden.

Clay-colored Robin

Clay-colored Robin: Large thrush with olive-brown upperparts, buff throat has faint brown streaks, and pale brown underparts. Bill is yellow-green and black-tipped. The legs and feet are gray-black. Direct, swift flight on rapidly beating wings. It is the national bird of Costa Rica.

● Song: "cheerily-cheer-up-cheerio"

● Foraging & Feeding: Clay-colored Robin: Eats insects, caterpillars, and some berries and fruits; occasionally takes snails, small amphibians, and reptiles. Hops and runs on the ground while foraging, pushing litter aside with its bill; also gleans food from branches and foliage low in trees.

● Breeding & nesting: Clay-colored Robin: Two to four pale blue eggs dotted with brown, gray, and red are laid in a cup nest made of mud, grass, and twigs, and built low in a tree or shrub. Incubation ranges from 12 to 14 days and is carried out by the female.

● Similar species: Clay-colored Robin: American Robin has red-brown breast, white belly, gray-brown upperparts, white throat, and yellow bill.

Flight Pattern

Swift direct flight with rapid wing beats.

Clay-colored Robin Breeding Male Body Illustration

● Range & Habitat: Clay-colored Robin: Resident from eastern Mexico to Columbia; occurs casually in lower Rio Grande Valley in Texas. Inhabits open or semi-open areas; also forest edges, gardens, suburban lots.

^BreedingMonogamous, Solitary nester

^PopulationRare

^MigrationNonmigratory

^Weight2.6 Ounces

Field Guide to Birds of North America