The Story
I photographed this Great Thrush (Turdus fuscater) at the Jardín Botánico de Bogotá in Bogotá, Colombia on June 28, 2017. Its soft, melodious song is sung only in the breeding season, just before sunrise. It is considered the largest thrush in South America. It is a common bird of the Andean highlands from Venezuela to Bolivia, often in parks, backyards and farmland. The José Celestino Mutis Botanical Garden is Colombia’s largest botanical garden, with an emphasis on Andean and páramo ecosystems.
I took this with a Canon EOS 70D and the EF400mm f/5.6L USM, at 1/500 sec, f/5.6, ISO 250. IUCN lists the Great Thrush as Least Concern with a stable population, and the garden keeps five special collections for Andean plants in danger of extinction, among them orchids and bromeliads.
©2018 Adam Rainoff Photographer
The bird
The Great Thrush (Turdus fuscater) belongs to the family Turdidae (Thrushes and Allies) in the eBird/Clements taxonomy.
Source: eBird.org (opens in a new tab)
Conservation
Least Concern on the IUCN Red List (assessment published 2024), with the population trend listed as stable. Source: IUCN Red List