I feel like I know a lot more about those little furballs from Brad’s last post. Adorable little ears, frisky tails, cute whiskers and a joy to observe … IN OTHER PEOPLE’S yards! Hehehe. We have the basic Eastern Chipmunk variety out here in the country and to be honest, damn annoying. They just cost me several thousands of dollars thanks to under-digging my steps and attached concrete slab. They also drive my dogs crazy when they pop out of a hole, give them the finger, wait for them to get all worked up, turn and wiggle their tan ass at them and then run like cowards back down their hole. One of these days (when Linda isn’t looking) I’m going to give Ruger the green light .. or should I say “tan” light.. and see how they like being chased by a 19.5 mph bloodthirsty, merciless Toy Poodle. I still need to assess the punishment I’d get from Linda if she found out. While I ponder that, how about we talk about a much more benign tan creature.
Hit the jump to find out more about our clay colored feathered friend.
For those that have not had the chance to bird Southern Texas or down through Central America, today’s subject is the Clay-Colored Thrush. Well, that is the current name as it has previously been referenced as the Clay-Colored Robin. Admittedly, I do like the name given by the Costa Ricans to their national bird – Yigüirro, but that may be due to the 3 years of Spanish I took in high school because the college I was going to attend required a second language – little did I know they accepted “programming” languages – Maldita Sea!
This is is not the first time the Clay-Colored has been featured here at Intrigued. It made its debut back in March 2018 from my first encounter ever at The Valley Nature Birding Center in Weslaco, TX (link here). As a note, we no longer plan on visiting that birding location unless they have rare sightings. It is a nice urban birding location with an abundance of birds, but it is extremely frustrating for large glass photographers due to the dense vegetation. After a while, The Beast just gives up and heads for the nearest plate of waffles. Luckily the Clay-Colored is fairly abundant along the Rio Grande Valley.
These first three shots come from Estero Llano Grande State Park, which is also located near Weslaco, TX. I have talked at great length in previous posts on this incredible spot – my top place in the RGV to bird by far. Incredible volunteers, no issues getting clean shots at Estero and you will often find the residents are more than willing to pose for the paparazzi. This particular specimen was hanging out at the feeder area in the Tropical Area of the park – previously the Lakeview Trailer Park and where the former home of whom I believe is one of the earliest “Big Year” winners is located. I need to get back there and have a volunteer remind me again of that individual’s name – kicking myself I can’t remember it or locate it on the web.
That was some of my “good” shots of the Clay-Colored from our Texas trip back in January of 2023. Now we move on to the “wet” shots.
I felt really bad for this particular specimen. It was absolutely soaked from a downpour that occurred right before we arrived. Thankfully they are primarily ground birds so it could utilize the “dry time” looking for some tasty invertebrates. According to Wikipedia, they have developed an affinity for ant columns looking for anything startled along their march. Note, for the unaware, I highly recommend avoiding the Red Imported Fire Ant family that hang out in southern Texas. Whenever we are in the area and go to take the dogs out, Benji lifts up his front paw and points to it with a “Hell No” expression. He managed to step right into a mass of them while visiting Laguna Atascosa and NEVER lets us forget.
This “wet look” specimen was found at Quinta Mazatlan located in McAllen, TX. This is another what I call “urban” birding hotspots. It is absolutely beautiful there and probably one of the most enjoyable walks you will have while birding. Not only do they have a tremendous amount of varied species, they tend to get one or two rarities there every year. Adding to the ambiance is the 1930s Spanish Revival Estate that serves as their visitor/event center and my favorite part, the amazing multitude of birds, animals, insects, etc. statues they have scattered throughout the area. There is a small fee to visit, but in my opinion worth it for the enjoyment you will assuredly receive. Based on the look this wet mess of a bird gave me, you might want to wait out any downpours looking through the hacienda ha.
Okay, if you are still with me, it is time for the “What the Heck” portion of the post. Going through the massive amount of pictures we take on our Texas trip is quite the undertaking. There is a reason it takes months…and in some cases multiple years to get the spoils processed and ready for viewing on the blog. Processing is usually marathon sessions that takes me through a large number of species. Every once in a while I stumble on a surprise, usually resulting from a mis-ID in the field. This is one of those cases – take a look at this specimen. Feel free to compare/contrast it with the specimens earlier in the post.
You probably immediately noticed the similarity in feather coloring, varying shades of tan and brown with the predominantly buffy breast. Like me, on first observation you might have categorized this into the Clay-Colored Thrush family. Helped, I am sure, by the fact that is the theme of today’s post ha. Back when I processed these last two images, I immediately ID’d it and exported it out to the species folder with the rest of the Texas Clays. It wasn’t until I was preparing this post that something caught my attention and stopped me in my tracks.
Did the eye coloring, or more specifically, the eye-ring draw your attention perhaps? That is not a characteristic feature of the Clay-Colored. They have a well-blended, almost hard to detect buffy eye-ring. This one had a rather brilliant yellow coloring that matched the typical yellowing on the Thrush family bills. That eye took me down hours and hours of research only to come up without a definitive answer. Three rare options were at the top of the possibilities list – the White-Throated Thrush (link here), The Spectacled Thrush (link here) and the Ecuadorian Thrush (link here). None are native to the area. The White-Throated was probably closest with pushes up into Northern Mexico and the other two significantly deeper into Central/South America. I was leaning to ruling out the Spectacled as those eye-rings are thick. The Intrigued bird ID department was also unsure. Ended up having Linda submit the shots to the RGV Birding Facebook page and asking “What up?” Received a lot of varying responses with the consensus being a hybrid between a Clay-Colored and a White-Throated. One was apparently reported around that timeframe (note, I was unable to verify that on my own, so trusting the responders). I am comfortable with that ID, although I would have preferred a pure species for my checklist – yeah, I’m a numbers whore hehehe.
Well, this has turned out to be a rather long post, apologies for that. Hopefully you enjoyed seeing the Thrush finds and learning about a couple of good birding spots in the Rio Grande Valley area. Feliz observación de aves.
Wildlife Intrigued 
You certainly have your battles with nature between pesky fur ball and the tree root of all evil. I’ll bet Ruger would love to get a hold of one of those pesky little varmints. Beautiful photos of the Clay-Colored Thrush. Great catch given their range is shown to barely cross the border into TX. Did you check its passport to see if it was in the US of A legally?
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I’m cursed I tell ya! Ruger froths at the mouth at the opportunity…but we would both get punished if I let him do that..although admittedly, it might be worth it .. must ponder that some more. The Clays are definitely rather sparse in the US, wouldn’t be surprised though if one would show up in your parts. As far as passports go, apparently these days we care more about other country borders and walls just for elites and politicians, so not sure it matters anymore.
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You gotta weigh the pleasure vs the pain. Is it worth joining the Clay and becoming a Turdus in the Turdidae familia?
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Agreed, I perform the weighing every single moment of my life hehehe. I laughed at your Turdus comment, I had a bunch of jokes about being a “turd” in the original post and decided to take it out assuming no one would get the Latin name joke. A running joke when in the field with Ron – “beware, turds everywhere!” Also one of the few Latin species names I remember ha!
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Don’t you just love it when id is soooo easy (not).
Love the first three images.
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Thank you B.! I tell you, I think it is actually getting harder and harder to tell these birds apart. It may just be an illusion as I am getting opportunities to see more and more of them these days, but inevitably I am nose deep in reference books after every outing.
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Nice bird images. Very “intimate”. And please, no photos until I have dried my “hair”
As far as chipmunks go, coward seems a bit harsh. Maybe to run away and come back to torment (fight) another day, might be more apt. Choices, choices. Even critters know when to its better to zig than zag. If only we humans could learn some of those lessons. 😳🫣🫣
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Cowards I tell ya’, dirty stinking, rottin’ cowards! Dig a hole under my concrete rather than the anywhere in the woods acreage you must pay the price hehehehe. I have to agree, I’ve seen Chipmunks display far more intelligence than what I’ve seen in the news as of late! Appreciate you dropping by Jerry – not sure about you out there, but we got our first snow of February yesterday.
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A Clay-Colored Thrush is a beautiful bird! I had never seen this interesting bird before and was happy to learn about it. Great photos with fantastic details of this special bird.
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Thank you Kaya. Glad we could introduce you to a new feathered friend. A more muted take on our much more abundant American Robins (also of the Thrush family). If you are ever in South Texas/RGV area keep your eye on the ground and you will likely get to see them in person rummaging through the leaves and underbrush. Not so much the White-Throated variety as those are supposed to stay many miles further south. Take care and appreciate your visit.
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That’s a bunch of research. I didn’t know our resources where that extensive. I think might subscribe to a Ruger-cam if he’s chasing chippers.
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You have to bribe them, but the Intrigued research department will accept the challenge from time to time. I am afraid if I bring out the cameras for Ruger Linda will notice something is afoot – and NOBODY wants that ha!
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The clay-colored is a very pretty thrush. It definitely shares some similarities with a robin and if I ever run into one, it might help me to remember that it looks like a robin that wears a robe with different colors. I hope you will get more help with the mystery bird.
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The Thrushes in general will definitely act similarly as they are pretty much all ground foragers and do the traditional Thrush Dance as I call it. Stand upright, cock head to one side or another, dash a few feet away, peck ground for a worm/insect and then repeat the dance moves. Their colorings differ slightly.. I happen to think our American Robins look much prettier than their kinfolk, but they all tend to have that two-toned (yellowish) bill that distinguishes them from the other grounders. Ended up getting some responses to the mystery bird. Based on comments from the RGV facebook page it falls into the White-Throated Thrush category which isn’t really supposed to be there – think last sighting was around 2016. The debate was around whether it was pure or a hybrid with the Clay-Colored. After a lot more research and help from my brother we have decided it is a pure White-Throated and I submitted it to eBird along with the images…now just sitting back to see if it gets rejected ha! As always, appreciate you coming by Tanja and fingers crossed if you manage to make it down to the southern tip of Texas the Clay-Coloreds will be waiting to show off their dance moves for you.
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You could move to SW Florida, Brad. I have lived in South Florida since 1995, and have never once seen a chipmunk. My sister in Virginia did send me videos of her hand-feeding one. :)
The clay-colored thrush is a lovely and interesting bird, and I enjoyed this post! Hope all is well with you!
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Glad you enjoyed learning about the Clay and what we now believe to be a White-Throated Thrush. Like I mentioned to Ted, Brad I could easily send you a few thousand chippers down there to spice it up a bit for you ha! Apparently your sister has a much better “agreement” with her local munks to give in to feeding them…our first thoughts of are who don’t we like out here that we can “encourage” them to go permanently visit ha. Other than a fresh coating of snow, all is good up here in the heartland. Take care and enjoy the assuredly warmer weather down in Florida…oh, do you prefer your Chipmunk delivery via UPS or Fed-Ex?
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I’ve never heard of a clay-coloured robin or thrush. At first I thought it was a very unhealthy robin to have such little colour. Maggie
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Glad we could introduce you to one of our rarer Thrushes Maggie – actually two now that we have decided the mystery bird at the end is a White-Throated Thrush which is even rarer. I can easily see how you got to your first impression as they are rather dull. Not sure of of all the Thrushes/Robins available to you in Canada, but I think you have the American, Gray-Cheeked (which admitted fairly dull) and the absolutely stunning Varied Thrush which I just got my first look at while visiting Vegas last month. Compared to the American and the Varied our featured Thrushes definitely come up short ha! Appreciate you taking the time to drop in.
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The American Robin arrives in April and is our first sign of spring. They are most people’s favourite bird up here. It’s always sad when they leave in the fall. They may get the gray-cheeked in Eastern Canada, but I don’t think her in the west. And the Varied are in BC, but not in dry Albera where we live, at least I don’t think so.
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I had to refresh myself on the Canada providences (think that is what they are called) and look back at the bird regions. You are absolutely correct, the Gray-Cheeked is just going to breed north of you – might catch a sighting as they migrate back to South America for their winter breaks. I was definitely way off on the Varied which is west of you – going to have to catch one blown off course to see that one where you are at ha. Luckily the American pretty much considers the entire continent its playground so everyone gets to enjoy those orange bellies ha! Thanks for the additional information, no hiding the fact I was schooled in geography within the states which translates to the world pretty much ends at our borders hehehe. Take care and keep an eye out for the Robins, they will hopefully show up in a few months!
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I am so impressed that you identified that White-throated Thrush, a bird that Cornell’s All About Birds doesn’t even list (because it isn’t supposed to be found in North America). His yellow eye ring appears to be the only reliable differentiator, every other feature seems muted. Heck, Cornell’s doesn’t even list your Clay-colored Thrush! Hopefully your sighting will be approved, and then you can submit to Cornell to get it added, since the RGV is within their scope. Very cool post!
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Thank you Sam! That was one of the problems I had is I couldn’t find a good reference as it was beyond our standard NA bird references – more specifically, Cornell is one of the few reference places that has a “similar” type bird feature so I can quickly get to alternatives. As much as I complain about their consistency in that feature, it does help when it is right. Luckily, I’ve seen the Clay so many times I am pretty familiar with those characteristics which is why the eye ring probably popped out as being so different. So far Cornell has not rejected the submission, so I think it is still a go. I will still be listed as a rarity due to the fact there hasn’t really been sightings in that area since 2016 and far and few between beyond that. I am still kicking myself for not noticing that earlier to the sighting, probably would have caused an uptick in visits there ha! Gives you something to look for if you ever make your way over there. Appreciate you stopping by and really enjoying your posts from that area!!
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Terrific finds.
Going through the archives can produce a surprise or two.
Chimpmunks are so cute – in someone else’s yard. In someone else’s state. On someone else’s planet.
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Right with you there Wally, not question at all – I was thinking state, but you put me in a whole new frame of mind with planet hehehe. I am still kicking myself for not spotting the rarity earlier – not to self, get on the spoils from the trip faster. Take care!
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