Birds
Somali thrush (Turdus ludoviciae)
The Somali thrush or Somali blackbird (Turdus ludoviciae) is a thrush found only in Somalia, in juniper woodland in the northern mountains between 1,300 and 2,000 m. It was once listed as Critically Endangered; in 2021 the IUCN moved it to Least Concern after research found habitat loss less severe than feared.
In short
The Somali thrush (Turdus ludoviciae), also called the Somali blackbird, is a songbird of the thrush family, Turdidae. It is endemic to Somalia (Wikipedia, Somali thrush, backup). Lort Phillips described it in 1895 (GBIF Backbone Taxonomy).
What it looks like
It has a black head and breast, a yellow bill, a brown back and wings, and a grey belly with red sides (Wikipedia, Somali thrush, backup).
Where it lives
It lives in mountain juniper woodland and the open ground between, at 1,300 to 2,000 m (same source). Most of its shared records come from Sanaag (see records below).
A change in its Red List status
BirdLife International listed it as Critically Endangered in 2008 because of habitat loss (BirdLife International, 2008 IUCN Red List status changes). Later research found that the loss of its forest habitat was not as severe as first feared, and in 2021 it was moved down to Least Concern (IUCN Red List, Turdus ludoviciae). Local efforts to protect the forests appear to have helped (Wikipedia, Somali thrush, backup).
Records in Somali lands
The Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) holds 69 records of the Somali thrush from Somalia, dated from 1899 to 2025 (GBIF occurrence search, Somalia). By type: 37 sightings by people, 32 museum specimens.
Records that name a region (37 of 69), by region: Sanaag 28, Woqooyi Galbeed 7, Togdheer 2 (same source).
The oldest dated record is a museum specimen from 1899, from a place recorded as "Wagga Mt.", held by the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard (GBIF record 863570469).
The newest dated record is a sighting by a person from 2025, from Sanaag, held by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology (eBird) (GBIF record 6613937797).
GBIF only holds what museums, scientists and observers have shared, so the counts show where the animal or plant has been recorded, not its full range.
Red List status
The IUCN Red List category for the Somali thrush is Least Concern (GBIF, IUCN Red List category; GBIF species page).
Classification
| Rank | Name |
|---|---|
| Kingdom | Animalia |
| Phylum | Chordata |
| Class | Aves |
| Order | Passeriformes |
| Family | Turdidae |
| Genus | Turdus |
| Species | Turdus ludoviciae |
Scientific name with author: Turdus ludoviciae (Lort Phillips, 1895) (GBIF Backbone Taxonomy).
Related pages
Sources
Sources
- Wikipedia, Somali thrush, backup · en.wikipedia.org
- GBIF Backbone Taxonomy · gbif.org
- BirdLife International, 2008 IUCN Red List status changes · iucnredlist.org
- GBIF occurrence search, Somalia · gbif.org
- GBIF record 863570469 · mczbase.mcz.harvard.edu
- GBIF record 6613937797 · gbif.org
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Keep reading
- Juba weaver (Ploceus dichrocephalus)The Juba weaver or Salvadori's weaver: name, range in the Horn of Africa, Red List status, and its 27 shared records in Somalia from 1901 to 2021.
- Somali bee-eater (Merops revoilii)The Somali bee-eater: what it looks like, where it lives, how it feeds and nests, why the IUCN thinks its numbers may be rising, and its records in Somalia since 1894.
- Somali courser (Cursorius somalensis)The Somali courser: a wader of semi-desert and short grass, how to tell it from the cream-coloured courser, its two subspecies, and its records across Somali regions.
- Somali crombec (Sylvietta isabellina)The Somali crombec: a small African warbler of dry shrubland, its range, the subspecies named after the Maharaja of Baroda, and its records across Somali regions since 1896.
- Somali crow (Corvus edithae)The Somali crow or dwarf raven: size, range, nesting, voice, how it differs from the brown-necked raven, its Red List status and where it has been recorded in Somalia, region by region.
- Somali fiscal (Lanius somalicus)The Somali fiscal or Somali shrike: range, habitat, how it hunts and stores prey on thorns, nesting, Red List status and its records across Somali regions.