Turdidae: Thrushes
The thrushes are a large family of medium-sized songbirds that are esteemed for the musical qualities of their songs. Most thrushes are brown overall, or a mix of earth-tones, and cryptically spotted or streaked. A few are more vividly colored. Most tend to be retiring in their habits, although some are bold and others are so shy that they are rarely seen, detected mainly by voice.
The family inhabits temperate and tropical forests worldwide, but has little presence in Australasia. It includes some of the most familiar garden birds in Europe and North America—the Common Blackbird (Turdus merula) and American Robin (T. migratorius), respectively—but the vast majority are much more secretive, localized, and little-known.
Official membership in the Turdidae decreased significantly with the reclassification of a large group of plump thrushlike birds generally known as “chats”—including, for example, the European Robin and Nightingale—into the Muscicapidae.
The remaining turdids fall into two general groups. Most are “typical thrushes” and the others are a small but diverse assortment that includes the solitaires, the bluebirds, the Asian Grandala (Grandala coelicolor) and the African “ant-thrushes” (not to be confused with the unrelated Neotropical “antthrushes”: Formicariidae) and “rufous thrushes.”
Taxonomy
The species-level taxonomy of the Turdidae is unsettled in many cases. Many tropical thrushes are sedentary, and those that inhabit islands or become isolated for other reasons tend to diverge. This leaves many populations at ambiguous stages of speciation, where their status is a matter of judgment or opinion, complicated by a lack of information. A prime example is the Island Thrush (Turdus poliocephalus), traditionally considered a single, widespread, internally diverse species, but increasingly regarded as a complex that could conceivably comprise over 30 species.
As currently configured, the family comprises somewhere in the approximate range of 171 to 249 species (plus between six and ten recently extinct).
Grandala (Grandala coelicolor)
Eastern Bluebird (Sialia sialis)
“Eastern Bluebird” (S. s. sialis)
“Mexican Bluebird” (S. s. guatemalae)
Western Bluebird (Sialia mexicana)
Mountain Bluebird (Sialia currucoides)
Red-tailed Ant-Thrush (Neocossyphus rufus)
“Red-tailed Ant-Thrush” (N. r. gabunensis)
“Coastal Ant-Thrush” (N. r. rufus)
White-tailed Ant-Thrush (Neocossyphus poensis)
Fraser’s Rufous Thrush (Stizorhina fraseri)
Finsch’s Rufous Thrush (Stizorhina finschi)
Townsend’s Solitaire (Myadestes townsendi)
Brown-backed Solitaire (Myadestes occidentalis)
Cuban Solitaire (Myadestes elisabeth)
Rufous-throated Solitaire (Myadestes genibarbis)
“Jamaican Solitaire” (M. g. solitarius)
“Rufous-throated Solitaire” (M. g. genibarbis)
“St. Vincent Solitaire” (M. g. sibilans)
Black-faced Solitaire (Myadestes melanops)
Varied Solitaire (Myadestes coloratus)
Andean Solitaire (Myadestes ralloides)
“Chestnut-backed Solitaire” (M. r. plumbeiceps)
“Venezuelan Solitaire” (M. r. venezuelensis)
“Bolivian Solitaire” (M. r. ralloides)
Slate-colored Solitaire (Myadestes unicolor)
Kama’o (Myadestes myadestinus) †
Oloma’o (Myadestes lanaiensis) †
Sulawesi Thrush (Cataponera turdoides)
Alpine Thrush (Zoothera mollissima)
Himalayan Thrush (Zoothera salimalii)
Sichuan Thrush (Zoothera griseiceps)
Long-tailed Thrush (Zoothera dixoni)
Geomelia (Zoothera heinrichi)
Long-billed Thrush (Zoothera monticola)
Dark-sided Thrush (Zoothera marginata)
Everett’s Thrush (Zoothera everetti)
Sunda Thrush (Zoothera andromedae)
White’s Thrush (Zoothera aurea)
Scaly Thrush (Zoothera dauma)
“Scaly Thrush” (Z. d. dauma)
“Horsfield’s Thrush” (Z. d. horsfieldi)
“Iriomotejima Thrush” (Z. d. iriomotensis)
Bonin Thrush (Zoothera terrestris) †
Nilgiri Thrush (Zoothera neilgherriensis)
Sri Lanka Thrush (Zoothera imbricata)
Amami Thrush (Zoothera major)
Makira Thrush (Zoothera margaretae)
Guadalcanal Thrush (Zoothera turipavae)
Bassian Thrush (Zoothera lunulata)
Fawn-breasted Thrush (Zoothera machiki)
Russet-tailed Thrush (Zoothera heinei)
“Russet-tailed Thrush” (Z. h. heinei)
“Mussau Thrush” (Z. h. eichhorni)
Black-backed Thrush (Zoothera talaseae)
Varied Thrush (Ixoreus naevius)
Aztec Thrush (Ridgwayia pinicola)
Rufous-brown Solitaire (Cichlopsis leucogenys)
“Chestnut-throated Solitaire” (C. l. chubbi)
“Peruvian Solitaire” (C. l. peruviana)
“Guianan Solitaire” (C. l. gularis)
“Brazilian Solitaire” (C. l. leucogenys)
Black Solitaire (Entomodestes coracinus)
White-eared Solitaire (Entomodestes leucotis)
Wood Thrush (Hylocichla mustelina)
Black-headed Nightingale-Thrush (Catharus mexicanus)
Orange-billed Nightingale-Thrush (Catharus aurantiirostris)
“Brown-headed Nightingale-Thrush” (C. a. melpomene)
“Gray-headed Nightingale-Thrush” (C. a. griseiceps)
“Orange-billed Nightingale-Thrush” (C. a. aurantiirostris)
Spotted Nightingale-Thrush (Catharus dryas)
Slaty-backed Nightingale-Thrush (Catharus fuscater)
“Black-backed Nightingale-Thrush” (C. f. hellmayri)
“Slaty-backed Nightingale-Thrush” (C. f. fuscater)
Swainson’s Thrush (Catharus ustulatus)
“Rusty-backed Thrush” (C. u. ustulatus)
“Olive-backed Thrush” (C. u. swainsoni)
Veery (Catharus fuscescens)
Gray-cheeked Thrush (Catharus minimus)
Bicknell’s Thrush (Catharus bicknelli)
Hermit Thrush (Catharus guttatus)
“Western Hermit Thrush” (C. g. guttatus)
“Montane Hermit Thrush” (C. g. auduboni)
“Eastern Hermit Thrush” (C. g. faxoni)
Russet Nightingale-Thrush (Catharus occidentalis)
Ruddy-capped Nightingale-Thrush (Catharus frantzii)
Black-billed Nightingale-Thrush (Catharus gracilirostris)
Sclater’s Nightingale-Thrush (Catharus maculatus)
Fruithunter (Chlamydochaera jefferyi)
Purple Cochoa (Cochoa purpurea)
Green Cochoa (Cochoa viridis)
Sumatran Cochoa (Cochoa beccarii)
Javan Cochoa (Cochoa azurea)
Siberian Thrush (Geokichla sibirica)
Pied Thrush (Geokichla wardii)
Black-eared Ground-Thrush (Geokichla camaronensis)
“Cameroonian Ground-Thrush” (G. c. camaronensis)
“Grauer’s Ground-Thrush” (G. c. graueri)
Gray Ground-Thrush (Geokichla princei)
“Prince’s Ground-Thrush” (G. p. princei)
“Bates’s Ground-Thrush” (G. p. batesi)
Orange Ground-Thrush (Geokichla gurneyi)
Abyssinian Ground-Thrush (Geokichla piaggiae)
“Abyssinian Ground-Thrush” (G. p. piaggiae)
“Kivu Ground-Thrush” (G. p. tanganjicae)
Crossley’s Ground-Thrush (Geokichla crossleyi)
“Crossley’s Ground-Thrush” (G. c. crossleyi)
“Itombwe Ground-Thrush” (G. c. pilettei)
Oberländer’s Ground-Thrush (Geokichla oberlaenderi)
Spotted Ground-Thrush (Geokichla guttata)
“Lotti Ground-Thrush” (G. g. maxis)
“Upemba Ground-Thrush” (G. g. lippensi)
“Spotted Ground-Thrush” (G. g. guttata)
Spot-winged Thrush (Geokichla spiloptera)
Orange-headed Thrush (Geokichla citrina)
“Orange-headed Thrush” (G. c. citrina)
“Indian Thrush” (G. c. cyanota)
“Plain-winged Thrush” (G. c. albogularis)
“Buff-throated Thrush” (G. c. aurimacula)
Ashy Thrush (Geokichla cinerea)
Red-backed Thrush (Geokichla erythronota)
Red-and-black Thrush (Geokichla mendeni)
Slaty-backed Thrush (Geokichla schistacea)
Buru Thrush (Geokichla dumasi)
Seram Thrush (Geokichla joiceyi)
Orange-sided Thrush (Geokichla peronii)
Chestnut-capped Thrush (Geokichla interpres)
Enggano Thrush (Geokichla leucolaema)
Chestnut-backed Thrush (Geokichla dohertyi)
Chinese Thrush (Otochichla mupinensis)
Groundscraper Thrush (Psophocichla litsitsirupa)
Ethiopian Thrush (Psophocichla simensis)
Mistle Thrush (Turdus viscivorus)
Song Thrush (Turdus philomelos)
Kurrichane Thrush (Turdus libonyana)
Comoros Thrush (Turdus bewsheri)
Bare-eyed Thrush (Turdus tephronotus)
Yemen Thrush (Turdus menachensis)
Somali Thrush (Turdus ludoviciae)
Usambara Thrush (Turdus roehli)
Abyssinian Thrush (Turdus abyssinicus)
“Ngorongoro Thrush” (T. a. oldeani)
“Abyssinian Thrush” (T. a. abyssinicus)
Taita Thrush (Turdus helleri)
Karoo Thrush (Turdus smithi)
Olive Thrush (Turdus olivaceus)
African Thrush (Turdus pelios)
“African Thrush” (T. p. pelios)
“Black-lored Thrush” (T. p. nigrilorum)
“Orange-bellied Thrush” (T. p. stormsi)
Principe Thrush (Turdus xanthorhynchus)
São Tomé Thrush (Turdus olivaceofuscus)
Chinese Blackbird (Turdus mandarinus)
Redwing (Turdus iliacus)
“Iceland Redwing” (T. i. coburni)
“Eurasian Redwing” (T. i. iliacus)
Common Blackbird (Turdus merula)
Fieldfare (Turdus pilaris)
Chestnut Thrush (Turdus rubrocanus)
White-collared Blackbird (Turdus albocinctus)
Ring Ouzel (Turdus torquatus)
“Northern Ring Ouzel” (T. t. torquatus)
“Alpine Ring Ouzel” (T. t. alpestris)
“Caucasian Ring Ouzel” (T. t. amicorum)
Red-throated Thrush (Turdus ruficollis)
Black-throated Thrush (Turdus atrogularis)
Dusky Thrush (Turdus eunomus)
Naumann’s Thrush (Turdus naumanni)
Taiwan Thrush (Turdus niveiceps)
Gray-winged Blackbird (Turdus boulboul)
Indian Blackbird (Turdus simillimus)
“Indian Blackbird” (T. s. nigropileus)
“Southern Blackbird” (T. s. simillimus)
“Sri Lankan Blackbird” (T. s. kinnisii)
Tickell’s Thrush (Turdus unicolor)
Black-breasted Thrush (Turdus dissimilis)
Gray-backed Thrush (Turdus hortulorum)
Japanese Thrush (Turdus cardis)
Tibetan Blackbird (Turdus maximus)
Kessler’s Thrush (Turdus kessleri)
Island Thrush (Turdus poliocephalus)
“Christmas Island Thrush” (T. p. erythropleurus)
“Loeser’s Island Thrush” (T. p. loeseri)
“Sumatran Island Thrush” (T. p. indrapurae)
“Javan Island Thrush” (T. p. javanicus)
“Sooty Island Thrush” (T. p. fumidus)
“Stresemann’s Island Thrush” (T. p. whiteheadi)
“Bornean Island Thrush” (T. p. seebohmi)
“Luzon Island Thrush” (T. p. thomassoni)
“Mindoro Island Thrush” (T. p. mindorensis)
“Negros Island Thrush” (T. p. nigrorum)
“Malindang Island Thrush” (T. p. malindangensis)
“Katanglad Island Thrush” (T. p. katanglad)
“Apo Island Thrush” (T. p. kelleri)
“Latimojong Island Thrush” (T. p. hygroscopus)
“Lompobattang Island Thrush” (T. p. celebensis)
“Schlegel’s Island Thrush” (T. p. schlegelii)
“Sterling’s Island Thrush” (T. p. sterlingi)
“Seram Island Thrush” (T. p. deningeri)
“Jayawijaya Island Thrush” (T. p. versteegi)
“Ashy Island Thrush” (T. p. erebus)
“Papuan Island Thrush” (T. p. papuensis)
“Goodenough Island Thrush” (T. p. canescens)
“North Melanesian Island Thrush” (T. p. heinrothi)
“Kolombangara Island Thrush” (T. p. kulambangrae)
“Vanuatu Island Thrush” (T. p. vanikorensis)
“Ureparapara Island Thrush” (T. p. placens)
“Efate Island Thrush” (T. p. efatensis)
“White-headed Island Thrush” (T. p. pritzbueri)
“New Caledonia Island Thrush” (T. p. xanthopus)
“Maré Island Thrush” (T. p. mareensis) †
“Norfolk Island Thrush” (T. p. poliocephalus) †
“Lord Howe Island Thrush” (T. p. vinitinctus) †
“Viti Levu Island Thrush” (T. p. layardi)
“Kadavu Island Thrush” (T. p. ruficeps)
“Vanua Levu Island Thrush” (T. p. vitiensis)
“Satanic Island Thrush” (T. p. hades)
“Taveuni Island Thrush” (T. p. tempesti)
“Samoan Island Thrush” (T. p. samoensis)
Brown-headed Thrush (Turdus chrysolaus)
Izu Thrush (Turdus celaenops)
Pale Thrush (Turdus pallidus)
Eyebrowed Thrush (Turdus obscurus)
Gray-sided Thrush (Turdus feae)
Grand Cayman Thrush (Turdus ravidus) †
Northern Red-legged Thrush (Turdus plumbeus)
Western Red-legged Thrush (Turdus rubripes)
Eastern Red-legged Thrush (Turdus ardosiaceus)
White-chinned Thrush (Turdus aurantius)
American Robin (Turdus migratorius)
“American Robin” (T. m. migratorius)
“San Lucas Robin” (T. m. confinis)
Rufous-collared Robin (Turdus rufitorques)
Black Thrush (Turdus infuscatus)
Sooty Thrush (Turdus nigrescens)
Mountain Thrush (Turdus plebejus)
White-eyed Thrush (Turdus jamaicensis)
La Selle Thrush (Turdus swalesi)
Forest Thrush (Turdus lherminieri)
“Northern Forest Thrush” (T. l. lherminieri)
“Dominica Forest Thrush” (T. l. dominicensis)
“St. Lucia Forest Thrush” (T. l. sanctaeluciae)
Pale-eyed Thrush (Turdus leucops)
Chestnut-bellied Thrush (Turdus fulviventris)
Plumbeous-backed Thrush (Turdus reevei)
Chiguanco Thrush (Turdus chiguanco)
“Chiguanco Thrush” (T. c. chiguanco)
“Coal Thrush” (T. c. anthracinus)
Andean Slaty Thrush (Turdus nigriceps)
Glossy-black Thrush (Turdus serranus)
Great Thrush (Turdus fuscater)
Black-hooded Thrush (Turdus olivater)
Austral Thrush (Turdus falcklandii)
“Magellanic Thrush” (T. f. magellanicus)
“Falkland Thrush” (T. f. falcklandii)
Tristan Thrush (Turdus eremita)
Creamy-bellied Thrush (Turdus amaurochalinus)
Black-billed Thrush (Turdus ignobilis)
“Black-billed Thrush” (T. i. ignobilis)
“Amazonian Thrush” (T. i. debilis)
Marañon Thrush (Turdus maranonicus)
Campina Thrush (Turdus arthuri)
Yellow-legged Thrush (Turdus flavipes)
White-necked Thrush (Turdus albicollis)
“Gray-flanked Thrush” (T. a. phaeopygus)
“Rufous-flanked Thrush” (T. a. albicollis)
Dagua Thrush (Turdus daguae)
White-throated Thrush (Turdus assimilis)
Pale-vented Thrush (Turdus obsoletus)
Rufous-backed Robin (Turdus rufopalliatus)
“Rufous-backed Robin” (T. r. rufopalliatus)
“Grayson’s Robin” (T. r. graysoni)
Lawrence’s Thrush (Turdus lawrencii)
Pantepui Thrush (Turdus murinus)
Pale-breasted Thrush (Turdus leucomelas)
Cocoa Thrush (Turdus fumigatus)
“Lesser Antillean Thrush” (T. f. personus)
“Cocoa Thrush” (T. f. fumigatus)
Hauxwell’s Thrush (Turdus hauxwelli)
Eastern Slaty Thrush (Turdus subalaris)
Rufous-bellied Thrush (Turdus rufiventris)
Unicolored Thrush (Turdus haplochrous)
Spectacled Thrush (Turdus nudigenis)
Várzea Thrush (Turdus sanchezorum)
Clay-colored Thrush (Turdus grayi)
Ecuadorian Thrush (Turdus maculirostris)
References
Boyd, J.H., 2020. Taxonomy in Flux: Muscicapoidea II: Cinclidae, Turdidae, and Muscicapidae. http://jboyd.net/Taxo/List26.html. (Posted February 29, 2020. Accessed October 31, 2020.)
Clement, P., R. Hathway, C. Byers, and J. Wilczur. 2000. Thrushes. Princeton University Press, Princeton, N.J.
Hume, J.P. 2017. Extinct Birds (Second Edition). Bloomsbury Publishing PLC, London.
Roberson, D. 2004. Bird Families of the World: Thrushes, Turdidae, http://creagrus.home.montereybay.com/thrushes.html. (Posted July 15, 2004. Accessed October 31, 2020.)