Dusky thrush
Turdus eunomus Temminck, 1831
The dusky thrush (Turdus eunomus) is a species in the family Turdidae, order Passeriformes. Recorded adults weigh 68 g to 75.5 g. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.
Quick facts about the dusky thrush
- Weight
- 68 g – 75.5 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- Not recorded
- Diet
- Invertivoresrc for Diet
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- forestsrc for Habitat
- Young per litter or clutch
- 4 – 5src for Young per litter or clutch
- Lifestyle
- Generalistsrc for Lifestyle
- Migration
- Migratorysrc for Migration
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
Where does the dusky thrush live?
Not recorded
What is the dusky thrush?
The dusky thrush (Turdus eunomus) is a member of the thrush family which breeds eastwards from central Siberia to Kamchatka wintering in Korea, Japan, South China and Myanmar. It is closely related to the more southerly breeding Naumann's thrush T. naumanni; the two have often been regarded as conspecific. The scientific name comes from Latin Turdus, "thrush" and Ancient Greek eunomos, "orderly".
This species breeds in open woodland areas, but unlike Naumann's thrush, the dusky thrush is more tolerant of mountainous and tundra-edge habitats. This species is strongly migratory, wintering south to southeast Asia, principally in China and neighbouring countries. It is a rare vagrant to western Europe. In December 2016 a sighting of one in the Derbyshire in the United Kingdom brought hundreds of birdwatchers to see it.
It nests in trees, laying 3-5 eggs in an untidy but neatly lined nest. Migrating birds and wintering birds often form small flocks. It is omnivorous, eating a wide range of insects, especially mosquitoes, earthworms and berries.
This is a medium-sized but stocky thrush, reminiscent in structure of a small fieldfare. The underwing is reddish brown, and there is a pale supercilium.
Dusky thrush has a dark brown back and rump; the face, breast, and flank spots rump are black and the belly and undertail are white. Naumann's thrush in comparison has a paler brown back and head; the face, breast, flank spots and rump are reddish, and the belly and undertail are white.
The female is fairly similar to the male, but immatures have a weaker patterning.
The male dusky thrush has a simple fluted or whistling song, similar to the redwing. There are suggestions that the songs of dusky and Naumann's thrush differ.
From the Wikipedia article “Dusky thrush” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Dusky_thrush&oldid=1357430823), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
Is the dusky thrush endangered?
The dusky thrush is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species.
How is the dusky thrush classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classAves
- orderPasseriformes
- familyTurdidae
- genusTurdus
- SpeciesTurdus eunomus Temminck, 1831
Synonyms Cychloselys dubius, Cychloselys fuscatus, Merula eunomus, Planesticus fuscatus, Turdus dubius, Turdus eunomus ni, Turdus eunomus turuchanensis, Turdus fuscatus, Turdus naumanni eunomus
Other names and names in other languages (59)
- Naumann's thrushEnglish
- Naumann's thrushEnglish
- سمنة معتمةArabic
- Torda cudifoscaAragonese
- Дрозд НаўманаBelarusian
- Кафяв дроздBulgarian
- Drask-Naumann kolier duBreton
- tord d'ales rossesCatalan
- Кӹрӓн лагыMari
- drozd rezavokřídlýCzech
- drozd rezavý severosibiřskýCzech
- BrundrosselDanish
- NaumanndrosselGerman
- RostflügeldrosselGerman
- ΣκoτειvότσιχλαGreek
- StepturdoEsperanto
- rufaflugila turdoEsperanto
- Zorzal eunomoSpanish
- RuskerästasEstonian
- rusktiib-rästasEstonian
- ruostesiipirastasFinnish
- Grive de NaumannFrench
- Grive à ailes roussesFrench
- Merle à ailes roussesFrench
- Smólach rua-eiteachIrish
- Treshlen ghorragheyScottish Gaelic
- קיכלי חום-כנףHebrew
- šareni drozdCroatian
- rőtszárnyú rigóHungarian
- BrúnþrösturIcelandic
- Cesena foscaItalian
- ツグミJapanese
- ツグミ、鶇Japanese
- ハチジョウツグミJapanese
- 鶇Japanese
- Сарғышқызыл сайрақKazakh
- 개똥지빠귀Korean
- dūminis strazdasLithuanian
- rudspārnu strazdsLatvian
- Bruine LijsterDutch
- svartflekktrastNorwegian Nynorsk
- svartflekktrostNorwegian
- drozd rdzawoskrzydłyPolish
- tordo-d'asa-ruivaPortuguese
- tordo-de-coleira-negraPortuguese
- tordo-de-coleira-pretaPortuguese
- Tordo-sombrioPortuguese
- Бурый дроздRussian
- drozd sibírskySlovak
- сумрачни дроздSerbian
- Sivi sibirski drozdSerbian
- bruntrastSwedish
- นกเดินดงอกลายดำThai
- Karaca ArdıçTurkish
- дрізд темнийUkrainian
- 斑鶇Chinese
- 斑鸫Chinese
- 斑點鶇Chinese
- 斑點鶇〔斑鶇〕Chinese
Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistTAXREFWikidataWoRMSIUCN Red List
Relatives of the dusky thrush
Other species in the same genus Turdus.
Common blackbird
Turdus merula
Song thrush
Turdus philomelos
Fieldfare
Turdus pilaris
Mistle thrush
Turdus viscivorus
Ring ouzel
Turdus torquatus
Redwing
Turdus iliacus
CompareDusky thrush vs Common blackbirdDusky thrush vs Song thrushDusky thrush vs FieldfareDusky thrush vs Mistle thrush
Common questions
Answered only where our data holds the answer.
How big is the dusky thrush?
An adult dusky thrush weighs 68 g – 75.5 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.
Is the dusky thrush endangered?
The dusky thrush is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is not currently at risk of extinction.
What kind of animal is the dusky thrush?
The dusky thrush (Turdus eunomus) belongs to the family Turdidae in the order Passeriformes.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds · CC BY 4.0 · v7
Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
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Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Dusky thrush (Turdus eunomus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/dusky-thrush
“Dusky thrush (Turdus eunomus).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/dusky-thrush.
@misc{dusky_thrush_2026,
title = {Dusky thrush (Turdus eunomus)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/dusky-thrush},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}