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Thrushes (Turdidae)

Orange-headed Thrush (Zoothera citrina) - HBW 10, p. 687

French: Grive à tête orange German: Damadrossel Spanish: Zorzal Citrino
Other common names: Orange-headed Ground Thrush; White-throated Thrush (andamanensis, albogularis)

Taxonomy: Turdus citrinus Latham, 1790, Cachar, India.
Geographical variation difficult to interpret, as both migratory and resident populations occur. Strong contrast in India between nominate race and cyanota suggests separate species, but overlap and “leapfrog pattern” of key characters between races renders new arrangement problematic; dark-barred face pattern of some races appears to be present in all juvenile plumages. Proposed race orientis (from E Java) based on longer wing, but not considered distinct from rubecula; putative race amadoni (from Chanda, in C India) appears indistinguishable from cyanota.. View all taxonomy...

Taxonomy: Turdus citrinus Latham, 1790, Cachar, India.
Geographical variation difficult to interpret, as both migratory and resident populations occur. Strong contrast in India between nominate race and cyanota suggests separate species, but overlap and “leapfrog pattern” of key characters between races renders new arrangement problematic; dark-barred face pattern of some races appears to be present in all juvenile plumages. Proposed race orientis (from E Java) based on longer wing, but not considered distinct from rubecula; putative race amadoni (from Chanda, in C India) appears indistinguishable from cyanota. Eleven subspecies recognized.

Subspecies and Distribution:

  • citrina (Latham, 1790) - Himalayas E to NE India and W & N Myanmar; non-breeding S India and Sri Lanka.
  • cyanota (Jardine & Selby, 1828) - C & S India.
  • gibsonhilli (Deignan, 1950) - C & SE Myanmar, SW Thailand; non-breeding Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore.

     See all 11 subspecies
  • citrina (Latham, 1790) - Himalayas E to NE India and W & N Myanmar; non-breeding S India and Sri Lanka.
  • cyanota (Jardine & Selby, 1828) - C & S India.
  • gibsonhilli (Deignan, 1950) - C & SE Myanmar, SW Thailand; non-breeding Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore.
  • innotata (Blyth, 1846) - S China (S Yunnan), E Myanmar, N & SE Thailand, NW & S Indochina; non-breeding Peninsular Malaysia.
  • melli (Stresemann, 1923) - S China.
  • courtoisi (Hartert, 1919) - Anhui (E China).
  • aurimacula (Hartert, 1910) - C Indochina and Hainan I.
  • andamanensis (Walden, 1874) - Andaman Is.
  • albogularis (Blyth, 1847) - Nicobar Is.
  • aurata (Sharpe, 1888) - N Borneo (Mt Kinabalu and Mt Trus Madi, Crocker Range).
  • rubecula (Gould, 1836) - Java and Bali.
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