Ixoreus naevius
Silhouette: Francesco "Architetto" Rollandin · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~30% in a week ~50%
The varied thrush (Ixoreus naevius) is a member of the thrush family, Turdidae. It is the only species in the monotypic genus Ixoreus. The varied thrush was formally described by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in 1789 under the binomial name Turdus naevius. Gmelin based his description of the "Spotted thrush" that had been described by John Latham in 1783 from specimens owned by Joseph Banks. These had been collected near Nootka Sound (formerly King George's Sound) which separates Nootka Island from Vancouver Island on the Pacific coast of Canada. The varied thrush is now the only species placed in the genus Ixoreus that was introduced by Charles Lucien Bonaparte in 1854. The genus name Ixoreus comes from the Ancient Greek ixos meaning "mistletoe". This was a synonym of a former name for the mockingbird genus, Mimus; Bonaparte assumed wrongly that, because William Swainson had shown a mockingbird and this thrush on the same plate of his book, they were related. The specific naevius is Latin for "spotted" from naevus meaning "spot".
Four subspecies are recognised: I. n.... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Redwood National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Denali National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Great Bear Rainforest | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 4 | Pacific Rim National Park Reserve | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 5 | Olympic National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | Wrangell-St. Elias National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 7 | Kenai Fjords National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 8 | Banff National Park | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 9 | Jasper National Park | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 10 | Katmai National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 11 | Glacier National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 12 | Kluane National Park | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 13 | Yosemite National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 14 | Death Valley National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 15 | Channel Islands National Park | 🇺🇸 United States |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vancouver | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 2 | Portland | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Seattle | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | New York City | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Minneapolis [Saint Paul] | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | Anchorage | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 7 | San Francisco | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 8 | Calgary | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 9 | Sacramento | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 10 | Edmonton | 🇨🇦 Canada |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Varied Thrush sighting in Portland on a given day, based on 4,874 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 62nd most-seen of the 230 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 30%, and over a week to about 50%, if each day is a fresh chance.
December to March
In those months about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Varied Thrush in Portland on a given day, against under 5% in May to September, the lowest months. Those are among Portland's wettest months, with about 200 mm of rain a month against 10 mm in July.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Varied Thrush sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
2nd of 14
Of the 14 cities where we can rate Varied Thrush sightings, Portland ranks 2nd at about 10%. The best odds are in Vancouver (Canada, about 20%).
Same family: Turdidae
The closest relatives of the Varied Thrush that you can see in Portland (family Turdidae, Thrushes) are American Robin (about 70%) and Hermit Thrush (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Varied Thrush is recorded against all the birds logged in Portland (4,874 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
