Taita thrush
Turdus helleri (Mearns, 1913)
The taita thrush (Turdus helleri) is a species in the family Turdidae, order Passeriformes. Recorded adults weigh 65.5 g to 71.8 g. Its IUCN Red List status is Endangered.
Quick facts about the taita thrush
- Weight
- 65.5 g – 71.8 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
- 2.4src for Young per litter or clutch
- Lifestyle
- Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle
- Migration
- Sedentarysrc for Migration
- Conservation status
- Endangered (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
Where does the taita thrush live?
Not recorded
What is the taita thrush?
The Taita thrush (Turdus helleri), also known as the Taita olive thrush or Heller's ground thrush, is an endangered bird in the thrush family Turdidae, endemic to the Taita Hills in southern Kenya.
From the Wikipedia article “Taita thrush” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Taita_thrush&oldid=1359030466), 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 taita thrush endangered?
The taita thrush is listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List: it faces a very high risk of extinction in the wild.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Endangered species. What the categories mean.
How is the taita thrush classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classAves
- orderPasseriformes
- familyTurdidae
- genusTurdus
- SpeciesTurdus helleri (Mearns, 1913)
Synonyms Planesticus helleri, Turdus olivaceus helleri
Other names and names in other languages (32)
- TATHEnglish
- merla dels monts TaitaCatalan
- drozd keňskýCzech
- brych TaitaWelsh
- Taita DrosselDanish
- Taita-DrosselGerman
- Kenja turdoEsperanto
- taita turdoEsperanto
- Zorzal de los TaitaSpanish
- taita rästasEstonian
- taitanrastasFinnish
- Merle des TaitaFrench
- Merle des TeitaFrench
- kenijski kosCroatian
- Taita-rigóHungarian
- Tordo di HellerItalian
- ズグロオリーブツグミJapanese
- keninis strazdasLithuanian
- TaitalijsterDutch
- taitatrostNorwegian
- drozd białobrzuchyPolish
- tordo-dos-taitaPortuguese
- Таитанский дроздRussian
- Тайтасский дроздRussian
- drozd bielobruchýSlovak
- Drozd sa planine TaitaSerbian
- taitatrastSwedish
- Taita ArdıcıTurkish
- дрізд таїтайськийUkrainian
- 泰塔鶇Chinese
- 泰塔橄綠鶇Chinese
- 肯尼亚鸫Chinese
Relatives of the taita thrush
Other species in the same genus Turdus.
Common blackbird
Turdus merula
Song thrush
Turdus philomelos
Fieldfare
Turdus pilaris
Mistle thrush
Turdus viscivorus
Ring ouzel
Turdus torquatus
Redwing
Turdus iliacus
CompareTaita thrush vs Common blackbirdTaita thrush vs Song thrushTaita thrush vs FieldfareTaita thrush vs Mistle thrush
Common questions
Answered only where our data holds the answer.
How big is the taita thrush?
An adult taita thrush weighs 65.5 g – 71.8 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.
Is the taita thrush endangered?
The taita thrush is listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List, meaning it faces a very high risk of extinction in the wild.
What kind of animal is the taita thrush?
The taita thrush (Turdus helleri) 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.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds · CC BY 4.0 · v7
Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Taita thrush (Turdus helleri). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/taita-thrush
“Taita thrush (Turdus helleri).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/taita-thrush.
@misc{taita_thrush_2026,
title = {Taita thrush (Turdus helleri)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/taita-thrush},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}