Ixoreus naevius
Silhouette: Francesco "Architetto" Rollandin · PhyloPic
In 3 days <5% in a week ~10%
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 |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Varied Thrush sighting in Yosemite National Park on a given day, based on 60 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 125th most-seen of the 169 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to under 5%, and over a week to about 10%, if each day is a fresh chance.
January and November
In those months about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Varied Thrush in Yosemite National Park on a given day, against under 5% in April to October, the lowest months. Those are among Yosemite National Park's wettest months, with about 150 mm of rain a month against 25 mm in September.
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.
13th of 15
Of the 15 parks where we can rate Varied Thrush sightings, Yosemite National Park ranks 13th at under 5%. The best odds are in Redwood National Park (United States, about 30%), Denali National Park (United States, about 30%) and Great Bear Rainforest (Canada, about 30%).
Same family: Turdidae
The closest relatives of the Varied Thrush that you can see in Yosemite National Park (family Turdidae, Thrushes) are American Robin (about 70%), Hermit Thrush (about 10%) and Western Bluebird (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 Yosemite National Park (60 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), 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.
