Other Names (World)
Blue Whistling-Thrush, Whistling-thrush, Large Whistling-thrush, Violet Whistling-thrush, Himalayan Whistling-thrush (temminckii), Blue Whistling Thrush
Family
Muscicapidae (Old World Flycatchers And Chats)
Voice
A sharp, piercing whistle. A harsh 'dzhee'. A loud, screeching 'eer-ee-ee', 'kreee' or 'scree' uttered in alarm. Song is a disjointed series of loud, beautiful whistles, interspersed with harsh or grating notes, terminating in a rising 'tzeeet-tzuit-tzuit-zuit-zuit'.
Blue Whistling Thrush (Myophonus caeruleus) [XC547815]
by Andrew Spencer from George Everest, Uttarakhand, India (song)
Blue Whistling Thrush (Myophonus caeruleus) [XC373699]
by Barry Edmonston from Sarahan, Shimla, Himachal Pradesh, India (song)
Subspecies
Subspecies flavirostris has been considered possibly to merit full species status, but basis for such a separation unclear. Birds from Tien Shan south to Pamirs described as subspecies turcestanicus, but considered inseparable from temminckii.
The following 6 subspecies are recognised:
temminckii Vigors, 1831 - Western Tien Shan south to Afghanistan, and east through Himalayas and eastern Assam to central China (east to north, western and south-western Sichuan) and northern and north-eastern Myanmar.
eugenei Hume, 1873 - Central, eastern and south-eastern Myanmar, west, northern and eastern Thailand, southern China (central and southern Yunnan) and northern and central Indochina.
caeruleus (Scopoli, 1786) - Central and eastern China.
crassirostris Robinson, 1910 - South-eastern Thailand, Cambodia and Malay Peninsula (south to Kedah on western coast and Haadyai on east).
dichrorhynchus Salvadori, 1879 - Malay Peninsula (south of Kedah and Pattani) and Sumatra.