About Turdus ruficollis Pallas, 1776
The red-throated thrush, with the scientific name Turdus ruficollis Pallas, 1776, is a passerine bird that belongs to the thrush family. Some sources classify it as a subspecies of the polytypic species "dark-throated thrush", alongside the black-throated thrush as the other subspecies. More recent taxonomic treatments recognize these two taxa as separate species. The components of its scientific name have Latin origins: Turdus means "thrush", and the specific epithet ruficollis comes from the Latin words rufus meaning "red" and collum meaning "neck".
This is a migratory species native to the Palearctic realm. It breeds in the region stretching from East Siberia to North Manchuria, and winters in West China, Myanmar, and Northeast India. Its geographic range overlaps with that of the black-throated thrush, which breeds further west.
It is a large thrush, with a plain grey back and reddish underwings. Adult males have a red throat. Females and young birds do not have this colored bib, but do have black-streaked underparts. The red-throated thrush is a very rare vagrant in western Europe.
