White-backed Thrush

Open encyclopedia reference

The white-backed thrush or Kessler's thrush (Turdus kessleri) is a species of bird in the family Turdidae. It is primarily resident or a short-distance altitudinal migrant, found in central China in Gansu, Qinghai, Sichuan, eastern Tibet, and northwestern Yunnan, and also a scarce winter visitor in Bhutan, northeasternmost India (Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim), and eastern Nepal. It breeds in alpine scrub on rocky sites at altitudes of 3600–4500 metres, and descends down to 2100 metres, rarely to 1500 metres, in winter. It is a large thrush, 28 cm long (same size as a mistle thrush). The male has a black head, wings, and tail, and a pink body, dark pink below and pale pink to nearly white on the mantle (thus superficially resembling a rosy starling in plumage pattern, though larger and longer-tailed than that). The female is similar but drabber, with a dark brown head and the pink tinged greyer. Juveniles are similar to adult females, but with pale streaks on the head.

Wikipedia contributors, White-backed thrush; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T07:39:20.947479+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name

Turdus kessleri (Przevalski, 1876)

Name authority

(Przevalski, 1876)

Common name

White-backed Thrush

Rank

species

Accepted status

accepted

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Aves

Order

Passeriformes

Family

Turdidae

Genus

Turdus

Extinction status

Recorded extant

Classification family tree

Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.

1. domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
2. kingdomAnimalia
3. phylumChordata
4. subphylumVertebrata
5. infraphylumGnathostomata
6. parvphylumOsteichthyes
7. megaclassTetrapoda
8. classAves
9. orderPasseriformes
10. familyTurdidae Rafinesque, 1815
11. genusTurdus Linnaeus, 1758
12. speciesTurdus kessleri (Przevalski, 1876)

Close classified relatives

These entries share the source’s genus, Turdus. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.

Browse 168 records assigned to Turdidae.

Names & synonyms

Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.

Documented distribution

Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.

Source literature & publication evidence

References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.

1. https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=563587 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references

Origins, evidence & remaining research

Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.

Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.

Dataset citation & attribution

This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11

Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.

Stable key: col:59PLW. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.