CreatureData

Bassian thrush

Zoothera lunulata (Latham, 1801)

LCLeast Concernsongbirds

The bassian thrush (Zoothera lunulata) is a species in the family Turdidae, order Passeriformes. Recorded adults weigh 129.5 g to 150 g. Source checklists list it for 1 country: Australia. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.

Bassian thrush (Zoothera lunulata)
Photo: JJ Harrison ( https://www.jjharrison.com.au/ ) · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Quick facts about the bassian thrush

Weight
129.5 g – 150 gsrc for Weight
Length
Not recorded
Lifespan
Not recorded
Diet
Invertivoresrc for Diet
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
forestsrc for Habitat
Young per litter or clutch
2.4 – 3.25src for Young per litter or clutch
Lifestyle
Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle
Migration
Sedentarysrc for Migration
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
Countries on record
1 countrysrc for Countries on record

Where does the bassian thrush live?

Countries where Catalogue of Life checklists list the species. Many checklists carry no country data, so the list is often incomplete. It is not a range map.

The bassian thrush is listed for 1 country.

Australia
  • Listed
  • Not listed
small islands are not drawn at this scale

The same countries as a list

  1. Australia

Why a country list is not a range map

Listed by: ITIS (scope: global), through the Catalogue of Life.

What is the bassian thrush?

Quoted from WikipediaCC BY-SA 4.0

The Bassian thrush (Zoothera lunulata), also known as the olive-tailed thrush, is a medium-sized mostly insectivorous thrush found from northern Queensland to southeastern Australia. It also occurs in Tasmania, on some larger islands of Bass Strait, and on Kangaroo Island. The thrushes range from 27 to 29 cm (10.5 to 11.5 in) in length and average 100 g (3.5 oz) in weight.

It is estimated that the range-wide population is large, though no official count has ever been established. The population appears to be declining because of ongoing habitat destruction and degradation, but not at a rate that is concerning.

The Bassian thrush lives in shrubland, forests, and rainforests. It appears to be a resident species, but there is some evidence that some individuals have nomadic tendencies, usually in the non-breeding season.

The thrush ranges in colour from brown to olive, with a white ring around its eyes and black bars on its back, rear, and head. Its underbody is paler, with dark scalloping, and its wings have a dark bar running the length of the underside.

Nesting begins in the winter months (from late June) and continues till the end of summer. The two or three eggs which form a clutch vary from pale green or blue to light stone. The cup-shaped nest is usually built of strips of bark, at times mixed with leaves, and is lined with grasses and rootlets. Sites vary from a few feet to 50 feet (15 m) from ground. A fork in a tree is usually favoured, but the nest may be placed on a stump, or a ledge in a cave.

Bassian thrushes are known to dislodge their prey out of piles of leaves by disturbing the leaf litter. The birds move quietly and often pause to listen for the movements of the insects.

From the Wikipedia article “Bassian thrush” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bassian_thrush&oldid=1346796311), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.

Is the bassian thrush endangered?

The bassian thrush is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.

  1. LCLeast Concern
  2. NTNear Threatened
  3. VUVulnerable
  4. ENEndangered
  5. CRCritically Endangered
  6. EWExtinct in the Wild
  7. EXExtinct

Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species. What the categories mean.

How is the bassian thrush classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classAves
  4. orderPasseriformes
  5. familyTurdidae
  6. genusZoothera
  7. SpeciesZoothera lunulata (Latham, 1801)

Synonyms Turdus lunulata

Other names and names in other languages (35)
  • Olive-tailed thrushEnglish
  • Olive-tailed thrushEnglish
  • griva de TasmàniaCatalan
  • drozd australskýCzech
  • brych daear AwstraliaWelsh
  • Australsk GulddrosselDanish
  • TasmanerddrosselGerman
  • Tasman-DrosselGerman
  • luneta turdoEsperanto
  • Olivvosta turdoEsperanto
  • Zorzal lunadoSpanish
  • austraalia kirjurästasEstonian
  • australiankirjorastasFinnish
  • Grive à lunulesFrench
  • australski drozdCroatian
  • pápua földirigóHungarian
  • Tordo di BassItalian
  • Tordo dalla coda olivastraItalian
  • オーストラリアトラツグミJapanese
  • tasmaninis dirvinis strazdasLithuanian
  • Tasmaanse GoudlijsterDutch
  • eukalyptustrostNorwegian
  • drozdoń australijskiPolish
  • tordo-lunuladoPortuguese
  • tordo-de-meias-luasPortuguese
  • Австралийский дроздRussian
  • Оливохвостый земляной дроздRussian
  • drozd austrálskySlovak
  • Tasmanijski pirgavi drozdSerbian
  • AustraltrastSwedish
  • eukalyptustrastSwedish
  • Sedefli ArdıçTurkish
  • квічаль австралійськийUkrainian
  • 绿尾地鸫Chinese
  • 黃綠尾地鶇Chinese

Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistWikidataIUCN Red List

Relatives of the bassian thrush

Other species in the same genus Zoothera.

CompareBassian thrush vs Scaly thrushBassian thrush vs White's thrushBassian thrush vs Long-tailed thrushBassian thrush vs Dark-sided thrush

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

How big is the bassian thrush?

An adult bassian thrush weighs 129.5 g – 150 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.

Where does the bassian thrush live?

Catalogue of Life checklists list the bassian thrush for 1 country: Australia. Checklist coverage is uneven, so the true range may be wider.

Is the bassian thrush endangered?

The bassian thrush is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is not currently at risk of extinction.

What kind of animal is the bassian thrush?

The bassian thrush (Zoothera lunulata) belongs to the family Turdidae in the order Passeriformes.

Sources and how to cite this page

Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.

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APA

CreatureData. (2026). Bassian thrush (Zoothera lunulata). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/bassian-thrush

MLA

“Bassian thrush (Zoothera lunulata).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/bassian-thrush.

BibTeX
@misc{bassian_thrush_2026,
  title = {Bassian thrush (Zoothera lunulata)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/bassian-thrush},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}