The varied thrush (Ixoreus naevius) is a member of the thrush family, Turdidae. It is the only species in the monotypic genus Ixoreus.

Taxonomy

The varied thrush was formally described by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in 1789 under the binomial name Turdus naevius. Gmelin based his description of the "Spotted thrush" that had been described by John Latham in 1783 from specimens owned by Joseph Banks. These had been collected near Nootka Sound (formerly King George's Sound) which separates Nootka Island from Vancouver Island on the Pacific coast of Canada. The varied thrush is now the only species placed in the genus Ixoreus that was introduced by Charles Lucien Bonaparte in 1854. The genus name Ixoreus comes from the Ancient Greek ixos meaning "mistletoe". This was a synonym of a former name for the mockingbird genus, Mimus; Bonaparte assumed wrongly that, because William Swainson had shown a mockingbird and this thrush on the same plate of his book, they were related. The specific naevius is Latin for "spotted" from naevus meaning "spot".

Four subspecies are recognised:

Further reading

  • Varied thrush in Twin Peaks opening theme