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True thrush

Eukaryota

Animalia

Chordata

Aves

Passeriformes

Turdidae

Turdus
Linnaeus, 1758

True thrushes are medium-sized mostly insectivorous or omnivorous birds in the genus Turdus of the wider thrush family, Turdidae. The genus name TurdusisLatin for "thrush".^[1] The term "thrush" is used for many other birds of the family Turdidae as well as for a number of species belonging to several other families.

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 two species have been introduced to New Zealand. Some New World species are called robins, the most well known of which is the American robin. Several species are migratory.

While some species are often split out of Turdus, the two small thrushes formerly separated in Platycichla by many authors have been restored to the present genus in recent years.

The genus Turdus was introduced by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae.^[2] The type species was subsequently designated as the mistle thrush.^[3] The name Turdus is the Latin word for a "thrush".^[4]

The genus contains 87 extant species and one recently extinct:^[5]

Distribution

Groundscraper thrush

Turdus litsitsirupa

Angola, Botswana, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eswatini, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe

Ethiopian thrush

Turdus simensis

Ethiopia, Eritrea

Chinese thrush

Turdus mupinensis

China and far northern Vietnam

Song thrush

Turdus philomelos

Europe, North Africa and the Middle East

Mistle thrush

Turdus viscivorus

Europe and temperate Asia

African thrush

Turdus pelios

from Senegal and Gambia in the west to South Sudan, Ethiopia and Eritrea south to north-western Zambia and western Angola

Príncipe thrush

Turdus xanthorhynchus

Príncipe

São Tomé thrush

Turdus olivaceofuscus

São Tomé

Abyssinian thrush

Turdus abyssinicus

Africa from South Sudan south to northern Mozambique

Taita thrush

Turdus helleri

Taita Hills in Kenya

Usambara thrush

Turdus roehli

Tanzania

Olive thrush

Turdus olivaceus

Tanzania and Zimbabwe in the north to the Cape of Good Hope

Kurrichane thrush

Turdus libonyana

Angola, Botswana, Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe

Comoro thrush

Turdus bewsheri

Comoros Islands

Bare-eyed thrush

Turdus tephronotus

Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, and Tanzania

Karoo thrush

Turdus smithi

South Africa, where it is present in Little Namaqualand, the Karoo and Northern Cape, Free State, Gauteng, Limpopo, Mpumalanga and parts of the North West Province

Somali thrush or Somali blackbird

Turdus ludoviciae

Somalia

Chinese blackbird

Turdus mandarinus

south, central and east China

Redwing

Turdus iliacus

Europe and Asia, from Iceland south to northernmost Scotland, and east through Scandinavia, the Baltic States, northern Poland and Belarus, and through most of Russia to about 165°E in Chukotka Autonomous Okrug

Common blackbird

Turdus merula

temperate Eurasia, North Africa, the Canary Islands, and South Asia

Yemen thrush

Turdus menachensis

Middle East

Taiwan thrush^[6]

Turdus niveiceps

Taiwan

Grey-winged blackbird

Turdus boulboul

south-eastern Asia from the Himalayas to northern Vietnam

Indian blackbird

Turdus simillimus

India and Sri Lanka

Tickell's thrush

Turdus unicolor

Himalayas, and peninsular India

Black-breasted thrush

Turdus dissimilis

south-western China

Japanese thrush

Turdus cardis

central China and Japan and northern Laos and Vietnam

Grey-backed thrush

Turdus hortulorum

north-eastern China and Russia Far East and winters in southern China and northern Vietnam

Eyebrowed thrush

Turdus obscurus

Siberia south to China and Southeast Asia

Pale thrush

Turdus pallidus

south-east Siberia, north-east China and Korea and may breed in Japan

Grey-sided thrush

Turdus feae

north-east China and migrating to subtropical or tropical moist montane forest in India, and Indochina

Brown-headed thrush

Turdus chrysolaus

Sakhalin, the Kuril Islands, Japan, Ryukyu Islands, Taiwan, Hainan and the northern Philippines

Izu thrush

Turdus celaenops

Izu and Ryukyu Islands of Japan

Island thrush

Turdus poliocephalus

Taiwan, through South East Asia and Melanesia, to Samoa

Tibetan blackbird

Turdus maximus

Himalayas from northern Pakistan to south-eastern Tibet

White-backed thrush

Turdus kessleri

central China

Fieldfare

Turdus pilaris

northern Norway, northern Sweden, Finland, Belgium, Eastern France, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Poland and Siberia as far east as Transbaikal, the Aldan River, the Tian Shan Mountains in North West China, Anatolia, Israel, Iran and Northwest India, and occasionally north-east India. It is a vagrant to Iceland, Greenland, Spitsbergen, the Canary Islands, the Balearic Islands, Madeira, Corsica, Sardinia, Sicily, Malta and Cyprus. It is a very rare breeder in the British Isles, but winters in large numbers in the United Kingdom, Southern Europe, North Africa and the Middle East.

Ring ouzel

Turdus torquatus

western and central Europe and also in the Caucasus and in the Scandinavian mountains

Black-throated thrush

Turdus atrogularis

east of Europe to Western Siberia and north-west Mongolia

Red-throated thrush

Turdus ruficollis

Asia

Dusky thrush

Turdus eunomus

south to south-east Asia, principally in China and neighbouring countries

Naumann's thrush

Turdus naumanni

South Asia to Southeast Asia

Chestnut thrush

Turdus rubrocanus

western Himalayas and central to south-western China; it winters in Eastern Himalaya and northern Southeast Asia

White-collared blackbird

Turdus albocinctus

Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal and Pakistan

Sulawesi thrush

Turdus turdoides

Sulawesi Island in Indonesia

American robin

Turdus migratorius

North America, from Alaska and Canada southward to northern Florida and Mexico

Black thrush

Turdus infuscatus

El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Mexico

Rufous-collared thrush

Turdus rufitorques

Central America, south of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, occurring in El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Chiapas state in Mexico

Sooty thrush

Turdus nigrescens

Costa Rica and western Panama

Red-legged thrush

Turdus plumbeus

The Bahamas, Cayman Brac, Cuba, Dominica, Hispaniola (Dominican Republic and Haiti), Puerto Rico

Grand Cayman thrush

†Turdus ravidus

Grand Cayman (extinct since 1938)

White-chinned thrush

Turdus aurantius

Jamaica

Forest thrush

Turdus lherminieri

Dominica, Guadeloupe, Montserrat, and Saint Lucia

Mountain thrush

Turdus plebejus

southern Mexico to western Panama

Pale-eyed thrush

Turdus leucops

Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, and Venezuela

White-eyed thrush

Turdus jamaicensis

Jamaica

La Selle thrush

Turdus swalesi

Hispaniola (Dominican Republic and Haiti)

Chestnut-bellied thrush

Turdus fulviventris

western Venezuela, western Colombia, Ecuador, northern Peru and north-western Bolivia

Plumbeous-backed thrush

Turdus reevei

Ecuador and Peru

Chiguanco thrush

Turdus chiguanco

Ecuador and the Altiplano

Andean slaty thrush

Turdus nigriceps

north-west Argentina, Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru

Glossy-black thrush

Turdus serranus

northern Venezuela to north-western Argentina

Black-hooded thrush

Turdus olivater

Venezuela and Colombia

Great thrush

Turdus fuscater

Andes in western and northern Venezuela as far as Lara and Trujillo, the Andes of Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and finally, northwest Bolivia

Austral thrush

Turdus falcklandii

south Argentina and south and central Chile

Lawrence's thrush

Turdus lawrencii

Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela

Pantepui thrush

Turdus murinus

foothills of south Venezuela and Guyana

Blacksmith thrush

Turdus subalaris

north-east Argentina, eastern Paraguay and southern Brazil

Creamy-bellied thrush

Turdus amaurochalinus

central and eastern South America

Tristan thrush

Turdus eremita

British overseas territories of the isolated Tristan da Cunha archipelago

Marañón thrush

Turdus maranonicus

southern Ecuador and northern Peru

Black-billed thrush

Turdus ignobilis

western Amazonia and on the Guianan Shield, occurring in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela, and Bolivia

Campina thrush

Turdus arthuri

lowlands of south-eastern Venezuela, Guyana and Suriname, east Colombia and west-central Amazonian Brazil

Yellow-legged thrush

Turdus flavipes

northern Colombia, Venezuela, far northern Brazil, Trinidad, and Tobago, as well as parts of the Pakaraima Mountains in western Guyana, eastern Brazil, eastern Paraguay, and far northeastern Argentina

White-throated thrush

Turdus assimilis

Central America

Dagua thrush

Turdus daguae

Panama to north-western Ecuador

White-necked thrush

Turdus albicollis

eastern Brazil, far northern Uruguay, eastern Paraguay and far north-eastern Argentina

Rufous-backed robin

Turdus rufopalliatus

south-eastern Sonora to the south-eastern corner of Oaxaca along the coast and in the Río Balsas drainage, with isolated populations in Mexico City and Oaxaca City

Pale-vented thrush

Turdus obsoletus

Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Panama, and Peru

Pale-breasted thrush

Turdus leucomelas

eastern and northern South America

Cocoa thrush

Turdus fumigatus

South America

Hauxwell's thrush

Turdus hauxwelli

Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela

Rufous-bellied thrush

Turdus rufiventris

southeast Brazil from Maranhão south to Rio Grande do Sul states, Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay and northern regions of Argentina

Clay-colored robin

Turdus grayi

South Texas (where it is rapidly expanding its range) to northern Colombia

Spectacled thrush

Turdus nudigenis

South America from Colombia and Venezuela south and east to northern Brazil, and in Trinidad and Tobago

Ecuadorian thrush

Turdus maculirostris

western Ecuador and far north-western Peru

Várzea thrush

Turdus sanchezorum

western Amazon

Unicolored thrush

Turdus haplochrous

Bolivia

Formerly, some authorities also considered the following species (or subspecies) as species within the genus Turdus:

• Rufous whistler (asTurdus pectoralisorTurdus prasinus)^[7]
• Grey shrikethrush (asTurdus harmonicus)^[8]
• †South Island piopio (asTurdus crassirostus)^[9]
• Ethiopian oriole (asTurdus monacha)^[10]
• Restless flycatcher (asTurdus inquietus)^[11]
• Black-headed bulbul (asTurdus atriceps)^[12]
• Ruby-throated bulbul (asTurdus dispar)^[13]
• Red-vented bulbul (asTurdus cafer)^[14]
• Sooty-headed bulbul (asTurdus aurigaster)^[15]
• African red-eyed bulbul (asTurdus aurigaster)^[16]
• Cape bulbul (asTurdus capensis)^[17]
• Common bulbul (asTurdus barbatus)^[18]
• Egyptian bulbul (asTurdus Arsinoe)^[19]
• Orange-spotted bulbul (asTurdus bimaculatus)^[20]
• Yellow-vented bulbul (analis) (asTurdus analis)^[21]
• Sombre greenbul (asTurdus importunus)^[22]
• Réunion bulbul (asTurdus Borbonicus)^[23]
• Mauritius bulbul (asTurdus atricilla)^[24]
• Malagasy bulbul (asTurdus Madagascariensis)^[25]
• Black bulbul (asTurdus leucocephalus)^[26]
• Philippine bulbul (asTurdus philippinus)^[27]
• Brown-eared bulbul (asTurdus amaurotis)^[28]

• Voelker, G.; Rohwer, S.; Bowie, R.C.K.; Outlaw, D.C. (2007). "Molecular systematics of a speciose, cosmopolitan songbird genus: defining the limits of, and relationships among, the Turdus thrushes". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 42 (2): 422–434. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2006.07.016. PMID 16971142.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Turdus.

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