Thrushes (Turdidae)

Blue Rock-thrush (Monticola solitarius) - HBW 10, p. 723

French: Monticole merle-bleu German: Blaumerle Spanish: Roquero Solitario
Other common names: Red-bellied Rock-thrush (philippensis)

Taxonomy: [Turdus] solitarius Linnaeus, 1758, Italy.
Separation of races generally difficult; characters tend to intergrade, suggesting that most, if not all, variation is clinal. Race philippensis highly distinctive in plumage and to some extent apparently also in ecology, but intergradation extensive. Five subspecies recognized.

Subspecies and Distribution:

solitarius (Linnaeus, 1758) - NW Africa, S Europe (E to Italy and N Balkans), N Turkey and Transcaucasia; non-breeding also N Africa and Arabia.
longirostris (Blyth, 1847) - Greece, W & S Turkey and Levant to Tien Shan and NW Himalayas; non-breeding also NE Africa E to N India.
pandoo (Sykes, 1832) - C Himalayas, C & E China (including Hainan) and N Vietnam; non-breeding S & SE Asia S to Greater Sundas.

See all 5 subspecies

solitarius (Linnaeus, 1758) - NW Africa, S Europe (E to Italy and N Balkans), N Turkey and Transcaucasia; non-breeding also N Africa and Arabia.
longirostris (Blyth, 1847) - Greece, W & S Turkey and Levant to Tien Shan and NW Himalayas; non-breeding also NE Africa E to N India.
pandoo (Sykes, 1832) - C Himalayas, C & E China (including Hainan) and N Vietnam; non-breeding S & SE Asia S to Greater Sundas.
philippensis (Statius Muller, 1776) - E Mongolia, NE China, Korea, S Sakhalin, S Kuril Is, Japan, Ryukyu Is, and N Philippines (Batanes Is); non-breeding SE China and Philippines S to Sundas.
madoci Chasen, 1940 - extreme S Thailand, Peninsular Malaysia and N Sumatra.