From one to seven – Slaty-backed Nightingale-Thrush

The Slaty-backed Nightingale-Thrush (Catharus fuscater (Lafresnaye)) is a rather small, slaty grey colored thrush that looks as if it’s constantly judging you; it inhabits dense forests in the northwestern parts of South America. 

The species, despite being quite common and widespread, is not easy to observe and thus not well-known.

According to a new study, the Slaty-backed Nightingale-Thrush is in fact is a species complex containing at least seven species as well as four subspecies, some of them newly described. [1]

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Unfortunately, I have not yet access to this study, so I do not know more about it.

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Photo: Cephas
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

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References:

[1] Matthew R. Halley; Therese A Catanach; John Klicka; Jason D Weckstein: Integrative taxonomy reveals hidden diversity in the Catharus fuscater (Passeriformes: Turdidae) complex in Central and South America. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. advance online publication. doi: 10.1093/zoolinnean/zlad031. 2023

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edited: 08.07.2023