Scaly-breasted thrasher
The scaly-breasted thrasher is a species of bird in the family Mimidae. It is found throughout much of the Lesser Antilles of the Caribbean Sea.
Taxonomy and systematics
The scaly-breasted thrasher was originally placed in genus Margarops with the pearly-eyed thrasher but is now in the monotypic genus Allenia. It has five subspecies:- A. f. hypenema Buden
- A. f. vincenti Kratter & Garrido
- A. f. atlantica Buden
- A. f. schwartzi Buden
- A. f. fusca Müller
Description
The scaly-breasted thrasher is approximately long and weighs with an average weight of. With its rather short and slightly decurved bill, this thrasher resembles a thrush. Adults of the nominate subspecies have a dark gray-brown head and upperparts with a reddish tinge on the rump. Their tail is a darker brownish black and its outer feathers have white tips. The folded wing shows a single white bar. Their chin and throat are whitish with brown streaks. The underparts are whitish and the chest and flanks have bold gray-brown markings that give the eponymous scaly appearance.The other subspecies differ mostly in size and the intensity of their upperparts' color. A. f. hypenema is the largest and is paler than the nominate. A. f. schwartzi is mid-sized and has more white on its tail. A. f. vincenti is the smallest and is darker overall than the nominate. A. f. atlantica compared to the nominate is more reddish brown above and has less white in the tail.
Distribution and habitat
The subspecies of scaly-breasted thrasher are found thus:- A. f. hypenema, northern Lesser Antilles from Saint Martin south through Saba, Saint Barthélemy, Antigua, Saint Kitts and Nevis, and Montserrat to Guadeloupe; possibly extinct on Sint Eustatius and Barbuda
- A. f. vincenti, Saint Vincent, and vagrant to the Grenadines
- A. f. atlantica, Barbados
- A. f. schwartzi, Saint Lucia
- A. f. fusca, Dominica, Grenada, and Martinique