The Himalayan thrush or Himalayan forest thrush (''Zoothera salimalii'') is a species of bird described in 2016 and separated out from the

alpine thrush The alpine thrush (''Zoothera mollissima'') is a species of bird in the thrush family. Taxonomy and systematics The alpine thrush was formerly known as the plain-backed thrush, until the latter was split into the Alpine thrush, Sichuan thrush ...

''Zoothera mollissima'' with which they were formerly lumped. The species is separated on the basis of

phylogenetic In biology, phylogenetics (; from Greek φυλή/ φῦλον [] "tribe, clan, race", and wikt:γενετικός, γενετικός [] "origin, source, birth") is the study of the evolutionary history and relationships among or within groups o ...

studies that suggest that the population diverged from the common ancestor at least 3 million years ago (estimates vary from 3-6 mya). The alpine thrush (''Zoothera mollissima'' in the restricted sense) breeds above the tree line whereas the Himalayan thrush breeds in forested habitats. The species breeds from

Sikkim Sikkim (; ) is a state in Northeastern India. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China in the north and northeast, Bhutan in the east, Province No. 1 of Nepal in the west and West Bengal in the south. Sikkim is also close to the Silig ...

and

Darjeeling Darjeeling (, , ) is a town and municipality in the northernmost region of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located in the Eastern Himalayas, it has an average elevation of . To the west of Darjeeling lies the easternmost province of Nepal ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

and extends east into

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa, Taman ...

and further east into northwest Yunnan in China. The species differs in its song from that of the alpine thrush. The Himalayan thrush has a more musical call while that of the Alpine thrush is raspy and grating. A newly discovered Himalayan forest thrush bird was named after the birdman of India, Ornithologist Dr.Salim Ali. The name of the bird is "Zoothera salimalii". A fruit bat is also named after him "Latidens salimalii" The

species name In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

is given in honour of the distinguished Indian ornithologist Sálim Ali. The tree-dwelling species has shorter legs, tail and wings but a longer bill than its Alpine counterpart, and uses the shorter legs and tails to help it manoeuvre around in the forest.

References

Himalayan thrush Birds of India Birds of the Himalayas Himalayan thrush Himalayan thrush Himalayan thrush {{Turdidae-stub