Proposal (1068) to South American Classification Committee

Establish English names for Turdus phaeopygus and T. albicollis

With the passage of the SACC proposal 1047 on changes in species limits in broadly defined Turdus albicollis, we need to establish English names for newly recognized Turdus phaeopygus and more narrowly defined T. albicollis. (We already agreed to use Dagua Thrush for T. daguae.).

From Oscar Johnson and Jacob Cooper’s SACC proposal 1047 we have the following:

“For T. phaeopygus and T. albicollis, Clements/eBird uses Gray-flanked for phaeopygus and Rufous-flanked for albicollis, which are acceptable and available names. Other options could include retaining White-necked for albicollis and adopting a new name for phaeopygus, but it is not clear what other names might apply to that bird. Amazonian Thrush is an option, as the species is widespread in the Amazon Basin, but it is one of many Amazonian Turdus species. We encourage SACC members to discuss potential names for these taxa.”

I’ve tried to get someone else, anyone else but me in fact, to work on this one, but no one stepped forward, so I’m going to start by simply proposing we adopt the eBird names, both of which are accurate. Yes, other South American Turdus have gray flanks and rusty flanks, but you all know what we are up against with the limited plumage variation is in these birds. Keeping the eBird group names is also a positive. Keeping “gray” as part of the name to match the “phaeo” part of the species epithet will help people like me remember the new names.

Nonetheless, if any of you have inspired names, speak up. Hellmayr and Cory (1934) used Gray-rumped Thrush for the subspecies name of T. a. phaeopygus, a direct translation of the species epithet. The differences in the flank color are more conspicuous than those in the rump, so I think the eBird name is better.

Here's a photo of T. phaeopygus:

And here is one of Turdus albicollis sensu stricto:

As noted by Oscar and Jacob, “Amazonian Thrush” is problematic, and retaining White-necked Thrush for the narrowly defined daughter T. albicollis goes against our guidelines for names of parent-daughter splits.

So, I recommend a YES on this one pending creation of inspired competitors by one of you or someone out there.

Van Remsen, November 2025

Vote tracking chart:

https://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCPropChart1044+.htm

Comments from Gary Rosenberg (voting for Naka): “On using Gray-flanked Thrush for Turdus phaeopygus and Rufous-flanked Thrush for T. albicollis, I vote YES. Seems like obvious choices to me - particularly since they are already adopted eBird. I agree that using “flanked” is better than “rumped” as no one will ever see the rump of this species.”

Comments from Donsker (who has Bonaccorso vote): “YES. I would strongly support the use of the English names Gray-flanked Thrush for T. phaeopygus and Rufous-flanked Thrush for T. albicollis. The names are not only morphologically appropriate but are also nicely complementary.

“In addition to their use (and now widespread introduction) in eBird, both names have historical precedence as well, having been used as suggested English names for these two taxa at least as far back as in Sibley & Monroe (1990).”

Comments from Rasmussen (who has Robbins vote): “YES. I agree with continuing the use of Gray-flanked and Rufous-flanked Thrush, especially as it seems doubtful that better names will be found for two more of the many not-especially-distinctively marked Neotropical thrushes (not to mention those of the Old World!). These names contrast well with each other and highlight the character most likely to be visible and to enable identification.”

Comments from Josh Beck (who has Claramunt vote): “I also vote YES for Rufous-flanked and Gray-flanked. Given that these birds are frequently seen from below, that the names are actually pretty good for ID, and that they have a track record already, this seems like a non-controversial one.”

Comments from Jacob Cooper (who has Remsen vote): “YES--as much as I am a fan of having concordance between scientific and English names, Gray-flanked is much more useful for field identification than Gray-rumped and contrasts nicely with Rufous-flanked. These names are also fairly established thanks to eBird, so it is a straightforward change of English names.”

Comments from Mark Pearman: “I just looked at this for the first time today and was immediately confused by which taxa would be included by each potential name. The southernmost taxon in south-western S. America is contemptus, which is resident in Yungas forest of Bolivia south to the Orense-Tucumano forest block of NW Argentina. This is part of the albicollis clade (sensu Batista et al. 2020; SACC 1047) but has grey flanks. In Misiones, NE Argentina and in E Paraguay, paraguayensis is also part of the albicollis clade, and that has rufous flanks. There are a few similar umbrella-patterned geographical ranges of species with east-west colour switches or variables in the same region and which arc through Paraguay and Bolivia from NE to NW Argentina, so this is not surprising to me. There was already confusion over the placement of contemptus in SACC 1047. Therefore, if contemptus is part of the albicollis clade, then the names suggested will need a rethink. I raise this through my own confusion over the issue.”

Response from Remsen: “Mark and I have been discussing this online. Mark does indeed have a photo from Chuquisaca that shows no trace of tawny flanks. Yet fulvous or tawny flanks are part of the diagnosis of contemptus, as in Hellmayr’s type description (type locality in Santa Cruz) , and photos from La Paz and Santa Cruz have tawny/fulvous flanks (to be checked against specimens soon). Perhaps there is an undescribed population at the southern end of the contemptus group, but I would be surprised that no one had noticed this from specimens. To be investigated …. Regardless, for the purposes of this proposal, I think this should be set aside for now.”

Comments from Zimmer: “YES to using Rufous-flanked Thrush for T. albicollis, and for using Gray-flanked Thrush for T. phaeopygus. These names do, indeed, highlight the best plumage characters for separating the two from one another, and flank color is also one of the better characters (after the conspicuous white throat crescent) for distinguishing both species from other sympatric Turdus species. The fact that the names are complementary, and, already in prevailing usage in eBird, adds to their attractiveness.”