NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Song Thrush
Turdus philomelos C. L. Brehm, 1831
Source-backed taxonomic record
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
The song thrush (Turdus philomelos) is a thrush that breeds across the West Palearctic. It has brown upperparts and black-spotted cream or buff underparts and has four recognised subspecies. Its distinctive song, which features repeated musical phrases, has frequently been referenced in poetry.
The song thrush breeds in forests, gardens and parks. It is partially migratory, with many birds wintering in southern Europe, North Africa and the Middle East. The species has also been introduced into New Zealand and Australia. While it is not globally threatened, serious population declines have been observed in some European regions, potentially due to changes in farming practices.
The song thrush builds a neat, mud-lined cup nest in a bush or tree and lays four to five dark-spotted blue eggs. It is omnivorous and has the habit of using a favourite stone as an "anvil" on which to break open the shells of snails. Like other perching birds (passerines), it is susceptible to external and internal parasites and is vulnerable to predation by cats and birds of prey.
Wikipedia contributors, Song thrush; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T02:18:31.080323+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Turdus philomelos C. L. Brehm, 1831
- Name authority
- C. L. Brehm, 1831
- Common name
- Song 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.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classAves
- orderPasseriformes
- familyTurdidae Rafinesque, 1815
- genusTurdus Linnaeus, 1758
- speciesTurdus philomelos C. L. Brehm, 1831
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Turdus. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| White-necked ThrushTurdus albicollis Vieillot, 1818 | TurdidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Creamy-bellied ThrushTurdus amaurochalinus Cabanis, 1851 | TurdidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| White-throated RobinTurdus assimilis Cabanis, 1851 | TurdidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Black-throated ThrushTurdus atrogularis Jarocki, 1819 | TurdidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Comoro ThrushTurdus bewsheri E. Newton, 1877 | TurdidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Dusky ThrushTurdus eunomus Temminck, 1831 | TurdidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Grey-sided ThrushTurdus feae (Salvadori, 1887) | TurdidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Yellow-legged ThrushTurdus flavipes Vieillot, 1818 | TurdidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Cocoa ThrushTurdus fumigatus M. H. C. Lichtenstein, 1823 | TurdidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Clay-colored RobinTurdus grayi Bonaparte, 1838 | TurdidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Grey-backed ThrushTurdus hortulorum P. L. Sclater, 1863 | TurdidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| White-eyed ThrushTurdus jamaicensis J. F. Gmelin, 1789 | TurdidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
North America
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.
- Brehm, & Christian Ludwig. (1831). Handbuch Der Naturgeschichte Aller Vögel Deutschlands. 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:59PMR. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.