The Borneo Island Thrush (Turdus poliocephalus seebohmi), also known as the Mountain Blackbird or locally in Dusun

Central Dusun language

Dusun ,is the language spoken by the Dusun people of Sabah, Malaysia.-Official dialect:Under the efforts of the Kadazandusun Cultural Association Sabah, the standardized Kadazandusun language is of the Bundu-liwan dialect spoken in Bundu and Liwan...

 as Luhui tana, is a bird in the Thrush

True thrush

The true thrushes are medium-sized mostly insectivorous or omnivorous birds in the genus Turdus of the thrush family Turdidae.The genus has a cosmopolitan distribution, with species in the Americas, Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia. Several species have also colonised some oceanic islands, and...

 family

Family (biology)

In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...

. It is a subspecies

Subspecies

Subspecies in biological classification, is either a taxonomic rank subordinate to species, ora taxonomic unit in that rank . A subspecies cannot be recognized in isolation: a species will either be recognized as having no subspecies at all or two or more, never just one...

 of the Island Thrush

Island Thrush

The Island Thrush is a common forest bird in the thrush family. Almost 50 subspecies have been described, ranging from Taiwan, through South East Asia and Melanesia, to Samoa, exhibiting great differences in plumage...

 (Turdus poliocephalus) endemic to the island of Borneo

Borneo

Borneo is the third largest island in the world and is located north of Java Island, Indonesia, at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia....

.

Description

The Borneo Island Thrush is mainly dark brown in colour. The flanks, lower breast and belly are rufous

Rufous

Rufous is a colour that may be described as reddish-brown or brownish-red, as of rust or oxidised iron.The first recorded use of rufous as a colour name in English was in the year 1782....

, with a white vent. It is about 23 cm in length. Its bill, eye-ring and legs are deep yellow. Males and females are similar in size and appearance.

Distribution and habitat

The subspecies is found only on the higher levels of Mount Kinabalu

Mount Kinabalu

Mount Kinabalu is a prominent mountain on the island of Borneo in Southeast Asia. It is located in the East Malaysian state of Sabah and is protected as Kinabalu National Park, a World Heritage Site. Kinabalu is the tallest peak in Borneo's Crocker Range and is the tallest mountain in the Malay...

 (4095 m), normally from about 2100 m asl

Above mean sea level

The term above mean sea level refers to the elevation or altitude of any object, relative to the average sea level datum. AMSL is used extensively in radio by engineers to determine the coverage area a station will be able to reach...

 upwards to the limits of vegetation, as well as around the summits of Mount Trus Madi

Mount Trus Madi

Mount Trus Madi or Trusmadi is Malaysia's second highest mountain at . It lies in the state of Sabah, close to Mount Kinabalu. The mountain supports a wide range of unique flora and fauna, perhaps most notably Nepenthes macrophylla, a species of pitcher plant.The natural hybrid Nepenthes ×...

 (2642 m) and Mount Tambuyukon

Mount Tambuyukon

Mount Tambuyukon or Tamboyukon is Malaysia's third highest mountain at 2,579 m . It lies close to the famous Mount Kinabalu. The mountain supports a wide range of unique flora and fauna, including a number of pitcher plant species of the genus Nepenthes....

 (2579 m), all of which lie in the state of Sabah

Sabah

Sabah is one of 13 member states of Malaysia. It is located on the northern portion of the island of Borneo. It is the second largest state in the country after Sarawak, which it borders on its southwest. It also shares a border with the province of East Kalimantan of Indonesia in the south...

, Malaysia. The habitat ranges from cold, wet and mossy montane forest up to, on Kinabalu, almost bare rock at about 3200 m asl.

Breeding

The nest is described as being a substantial structure, made of woven plant material and lined with grass, 15 cm across by 10 cm deep. It is built a few metres above the ground in a fork or the branches of the low trees found at the altitude at which it lives. The normal clutch is a single egg. Nests with eggs or chicks have been recorded in February and March, suggesting a restricted breeding season.

Feeding

The birds forage through the forest in the trees and on the ground. The diet is largely vegetarian, mainly fruit and berries, though insects are also taken.