Editing Catharus

{{Short description|Genus of birds}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| image = Catharus mexicanus -Costa Rica-8.jpg
| image_caption = [[Black-headed nightingale-thrush]] (''Catharus mexicanus'')
| taxon = Catharus
| authority = [[Charles Lucien Bonaparte|Bonaparte]], 1850
| type_species = ''[[Orange-billed nightingale-thrush|Turdus immaculatus]]''<ref name=HM4>{{cite web |url= https://www.aviansystematics.org/4th-edition-checklist?viewfamilies=182 |title= Turdidae |author=<!--Not stated--> |date= |website= aviansystematics.org |publisher= The Trust for Avian Systematics |access-date= 2023-07-15}}</ref>
| type_species_authority = Bonaparte, 1850
| subdivision_ranks = Species
}}

The genus '''''Catharus''''' is an evolutionary [[clade]] of forest-dwelling passerine birds in the family [[Thrush (bird)|Turdidae]] (thrushes), commonly known as '''nightingale-thrushes'''. The extant species are widely distributed across the Americas and are descended from a common ancestor that lived 4–6 million years ago.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last1=Voelker|first1=Gary|last2=Bowie|first2=Rauri C. K.|last3=Klicka|first3=John|date=2013|title=Gene trees, species trees and Earth history combine to shed light on the evolution of migration in a model avian system|url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/mec.12305|journal=Molecular Ecology|language=en|volume=22|issue=12|pages=3333–3344|doi=10.1111/mec.12305|pmid=23710782|bibcode=2013MolEc..22.3333V |s2cid=28796611|issn=1365-294X|url-access=subscription}}</ref> Most of the species are shy of humans, seldom leaving the cover of dense forest vegetation, where their activities are hidden from view. Thus, many fundamental aspects of their biology and life histories are poorly known.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Goetz|first1=James E.|last2=McFarland|first2=Kent P.|last3=Rimmer|first3=Christopher C.|date=2003|title=Multiple Paternity and Multiple Male Feeders in Bicknell's Thrush (Catharus bicknelli)|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/4090275|journal=The Auk|volume=120|issue=4|pages=1044–1053|doi=10.2307/4090275|jstor=4090275|issn=0004-8038|url-access=subscription}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Halley|first1=Matthew R.|last2=Heckscher|first2=Christopher M.|last3=Kalavacharla|first3=Venugopal|date=2016-06-22|title=Multi-Generational Kinship, Multiple Mating, and Flexible Modes of Parental Care in a Breeding Population of the Veery (Catharus fuscescens), a Trans-Hemispheric Migratory Songbird|journal=PLOS ONE|language=en|volume=11|issue=6|pages=e0157051|doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0157051|issn=1932-6203|pmc=4917174|pmid=27331399|bibcode=2016PLoSO..1157051H|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref name=":3">{{Cite journal|last1=Greeney|first1=Harold F.|last2=Dyrcz|first2=Andrzej|last3=Mikusek|first3=Romuald|last4=Port|first4=Jeff|date=2015-06-01|title=Cooperative Breeding at a Nest of Slaty-backed Nightingale-Thrushes (Catharus fuscater)|url=https://meridian.allenpress.com/wjo/article/127/2/323/179420/Cooperative-Breeding-at-a-Nest-of-Slaty-backed|journal=The Wilson Journal of Ornithology|language=en|volume=127|issue=2|pages=323–325|doi=10.1676/wils-127-02-323-325.1|s2cid=83730135|issn=1559-4491|url-access=subscription}}</ref>

Nightingale-thrushes are small [[omnivorous]] songbirds that, like their sister species the [[wood thrush]] (''Hylocichla mustelina''), exhibit a variety of [[Migratory bird|migratory]] and non-migratory habits.<ref name=":0" /><ref name="wink">Winker, Kevin & Pruett, Christin L. (2006): "[http://www.uaf.edu/museum/bird/personnel/KWinker/Catharus%20Auk%202006.pdf Seasonal migration, speciation, and morphological convergence in the avian genus ''Catharus'' (Turdidae).] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071025135127/http://www.uaf.edu/museum/bird/personnel/KWinker/Catharus%20Auk%202006.pdf#|date=2007-10-25}}" ''[[Auk (journal)|Auk]]'' '''123'''(4): 1052-1068.  [[Digital Object Identifier|DOI]]: 10.1642/0004-8038(2006)123[1052:SMSAMC]2.0.CO;2</ref> Multiple species are long-distance migrants that breed in North America and "winter" in the [[Neotropics]]. The breeding range of one migratory species, the [[Grey-cheeked thrush|gray-cheeked thrush]] (''C. minimus''), extends into eastern Siberia. The remainder of the migratory species are restricted to the Americas, notwithstanding occasional vagrant records in Europe<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Hachenberg|first=Andreas|date=2017|title=Seltene Vogelarten in Baden-Württemberg 2015|url=https://docplayer.org/70176781-Seltene-vogelarten-in-baden-wuerttemberg-2015.html|journal=Ornithologische Gesellschaft Baden-Württemberg|volume=33|pages=115–127|via=}}</ref> and northeast Asia.<ref name="brazil">Brazil, Mark (2009) ''Birds of East Asia'' {{ISBN|978-0-7136-7040-0}} page 400 – 402</ref> The non-migratory species are residents of the [[Neotropical realm]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Ortiz-Ramírez|first1=Marco F.|last2=Andersen|first2=Michael J.|last3=Zaldívar-Riverón|first3=Alejandro|last4=Ornelas|first4=Juan Francisco|last5=Navarro-Sigüenza|first5=Adolfo G.|date=2016-01-01|title=Geographic isolation drives divergence of uncorrelated genetic and song variation in the Ruddy-capped Nightingale-Thrush (Catharus frantzii; Aves: Turdidae)|url=http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1055790315002481|journal=Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution|language=en|volume=94|issue=Pt A|pages=74–86|doi=10.1016/j.ympev.2015.08.017|pmid=26302950|bibcode=2016MolPE..94...74O |issn=1055-7903|url-access=subscription}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Tenorio|first1=Elkin A.|last2=Londoño|first2=Gustavo A.|date=2019-11-10|title=Nesting biology of the Spotted Nightingale-Thrush (Catharus dryas) and comparison of life histories in the genus Catharus|url=https://doi.org/10.1080/00222933.2019.1708493|journal=Journal of Natural History|volume=53|issue=41–42|pages=2563–2578|doi=10.1080/00222933.2019.1708493|bibcode=2019JNatH..53.2563T |s2cid=213438119|issn=0022-2933|url-access=subscription}}</ref><ref name=":4" /><ref name=":1" /><ref name=":3" />

==Systematics==
Historically, the migratory and residents were placed in two genera: ''Hylocichla'' and ''Catharus'', respectively.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Ridgway|first=Robert|date=1907|title=Ridgway's 'The Birds of North and Middle America,' Part IV|url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/part/90212|journal=The Auk|volume=24|issue=4|pages=450–451|doi=10.2307/4070590|jstor=4070590}}</ref> However, molecular studies indicate that hermit thrush (''C. guttatus'') is more closely related to three Neotropical species (''C. occidentalis'', ''C. gracilirostris'', ''C. frantzii'') than to the long-distance migrants which it superficially resembles.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Outlaw|first1=Diana C.|last2=Voelker|first2=Gary|last3=Mila|first3=Borja|last4=Girman|first4=Derek J.|title=Evolution of Long-Distance Migration in and Historical Biogeography of Catharus Thrushes: A Molecular Phylogenetic Approach|date=April 2003|journal=The Auk|volume=120|issue=2|pages=299–310|doi=10.1642/0004-8038(2003)120[0299:EOLMIA]2.0.CO;2|issn=0004-8038|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref name="wink" /><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Everson|first1=Kathryn M.|last2=McLaughlin|first2=Jessica F.|last3=Cato|first3=Iris A.|last4=Evans|first4=Maryanne M.|last5=Gastaldi|first5=Angela R.|last6=Mills|first6=Kendall K.|last7=Shink|first7=Katie G.|last8=Wilbur|first8=Sara M.|last9=Winker|first9=Kevin|date=2019-10-01|title=Speciation, gene flow, and seasonal migration in Catharus thrushes (Aves:Turdidae)|journal=Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution|language=en|volume=139|pages=106564|doi=10.1016/j.ympev.2019.106564|pmid=31330265|issn=1055-7903|doi-access=free|bibcode=2019MolPE.13906564E }}</ref><ref name=":0" /> This pattern of [[homoplasy]] may be the result of two independent origins of migration in the genus, and the [[convergent evolution]] of phenotypic characters associated with migration.<ref name="wink" />

The [[Taxonomy (biology)|taxonomy]] of ''Catharus'' dates to the 18th century and has a confusing history resulting from multiple [[Species complex|cryptic species]], taxonomic composites, misidentified species, and other historical errors.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal|last=Phillips|first=Allan R.|date=1969|title=An Ornithological Comedy of Errors: Catharus occidentalis and C. Frantzii|journal=The Auk|volume=86|issue=4|pages=605–623|doi=10.2307/4083450|jstor=4083450|issn=0004-8038|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Halley|first=Matthew R.|date=June 2018|title=The ambiguous identity of Turdus mustelinus Wilson, and a neotype designation for the Veery Catharus fuscescens (Stephens)|journal=Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club|volume=138|issue=2|pages=79–92|doi=10.25226/bboc.v138i2.2018.a3|s2cid=165880476|issn=0007-1595|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite journal|last=Halley|first=Matthew R.|date=September 2019|title=The misidentification of Turdus ustulatus Nuttall, and the names of the nightingale-thrushes (Turdidae: Catharus)|journal=Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club|volume=139|issue=3|pages=238–259|doi=10.25226/bboc.v139i3.2019.a6|s2cid=202727929|issn=0007-1595|doi-access=free}}</ref> The name ''Catharus'', authored by [[Charles Lucien Bonaparte]], is derived from the [[Ancient Greek]] {{lang|grc|{{linktext|καθαρός}}}} ({{transliteration|grc|''katharós''}}) meaning "pure" or "clean", and refers to the plumage of the [[orange-billed nightingale-thrush]] (''C. aurantiirostris'').<ref name="job">{{cite book|last=Jobling|first=James A|url=https://archive.org/details/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling|title=The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names|publisher=Christopher Helm|year=2010|isbn=978-1-4081-2501-4|location=London|page=[https://archive.org/details/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling/page/n94 94]}}</ref>
[[File:Charles Lucien Jules Laurent Bonaparte, Prince di Canino. Li Wellcome V0006453.jpg|thumb|Charles Lucien Bonaparte (1803–1857), who gave the genus ''Catharus'' its name in 1850.]]
[[Species|Species delimitation]] in ''Catharus'' remains an active topic of study and multiple taxonomic splits have been proposed and/or adopted during the last half century, to recognize long-overlooked cryptic species. For example, evidence supporting the split of ''C. frantzii'' and ''C. occidentalis'' was published in 1969;<ref name=":1" /> evidence supporting the split of ''C. bicknelli'' and ''C. minimus'' was published in 1993;<ref>{{Cite journal|last=OUELLET|first=H|date=1993|title=Bicknell's thrush: taxonomic status and distribution|url=https://pascal-francis.inist.fr/vibad/index.php?action=getRecordDetail&idt=3939954|journal=Bicknell's Thrush: Taxonomic Status and Distribution|volume=105|issue=4|pages=545–572|issn=0043-5643}}</ref> most recently, evidence supporting the split of ''C. dryas'' and ''C. maculatus'' was published in 2017.<ref name=":4">{{Cite journal|last1=Halley|first1=Matthew R.|last2=Klicka|first2=John C.|last3=Clee|first3=Paul R. Sesink|last4=Weckstein|first4=Jason D.|date=2017-06-13|title=Restoring the species status of Catharus maculatus (Aves: Turdidae), a secretive Andean thrush, with a critique of the yardstick approach to species delimitation|url=https://www.biotaxa.org/Zootaxa/article/view/zootaxa.4276.3.4|journal=Zootaxa|language=en|volume=4276|issue=3|pages=387–404|doi=10.11646/zootaxa.4276.3.4|issn=1175-5334|doi-access=free}}</ref> The sister taxa ''C. ustulatus'' and ''C. swainsoni'' have also been treated at species rank by some authors.<ref name=":2" /><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Piacentini|first1=Vítor de Q.|last2=Aleixo|first2=Alexandre|last3=Agne|first3=Carlos Eduardo|last4=Maurício|first4=Giovanni Nachtigall|last5=Pacheco|first5=José Fernando|last6=Bravo|first6=Gustavo A.|last7=Brito|first7=Guilherme R. R.|last8=Naka|first8=Luciano N.|last9=Olmos|first9=Fabio|last10=Posso|first10=Sergio|last11=Silveira|first11=Luís Fábio|date=2015-12-31|title=Annotated checklist of the birds of Brazil by the Brazilian Ornithological Records Committee / Lista comentada das aves do Brasil pelo Comitê Brasileiro de Registros Ornitológicos|url=http://www.revbrasilornitol.com.br/BJO/article/view/1263|journal=Revista Brasileira de Ornitologia - Brazilian Journal of Ornithology|volume=23|issue=2|pages=90–298|doi=10.1007/BF03544294|issn=2178-7875|doi-access=free}}</ref>

The nightingale-thrushes, revered for their beautiful songs, have long been compared to the [[common nightingale]] (''Luscinia megarhynchos''). [[Theodore Roosevelt]] once remarked that, "In melody, and above all in that finer, higher melody where the chords vibrate with the touch of eternal sorrow, [''L. megarhynchos''] cannot rank with such singers as the Wood Thrush and Hermit Thrush. The serene, ethereal beauty of the Hermit's song, rising and falling through the still evening under the archways of hoary mountain forests that have endured from time everlasting".<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Mathews|first1=F. Schuyler|url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/bibliography/28116|title=Field book of wild birds and their music : a description of the character and music of birds, intended to assist in the identification of species common in the United States east of the Rocky Mountains|last2=Ussher|first2=R. D.|date=1921|publisher=G.P. Putnam's Sons|edition=Rev. and enl.|location=New York}}</ref> A study published in 2014 presented evidence that hermit thrush songs, like human music, tend to be constructed of frequency ratios that are expressed as simple mathematical ratios and follow the harmonic series.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Doolittle|first1=Emily L.|last2=Gingras|first2=Bruno|last3=Endres|first3=Dominik M.|last4=Fitch|first4=W. Tecumseh|date=2014-11-18|title=Overtone-based pitch selection in hermit thrush song: Unexpected convergence with scale construction in human music|journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences|language=en|volume=111|issue=46|pages=16616–16621|doi=10.1073/pnas.1406023111|issn=0027-8424|pmid=25368163|pmc=4246323|bibcode=2014PNAS..11116616D|doi-access=free}}</ref>

{{cladogram|caption=Molecular phylogeny of ''Catharus'' based on Everson et al. (2019)<ref name=everson2019>{{Cite journal | last1=Everson | first1=K.M. | last2=McLaughlin | first2=J.F. | last3=Cato | first3=I.A. | last4=Evans | first4=M.M. | last5=Gastaldi | first5=A.R. | last6=Mills | first6=K.K. | last7=Shink | first7=K.G.| last8=Wilbur | first8=S.M. | last9=Winker | first9=K. | date=2019 | title=Speciation, gene flow, and seasonal migration in Catharus thrushes (Aves:Turdidae) | journal=Molecular Phylogenetics & Evolution | volume=139 | issue=106564 | page=106564 | doi=10.1016/j.ympev.2019.106564| pmid=31330265 | doi-access=free | bibcode=2019MolPE.13906564E }}</ref> with updates from Halley et al. (2017) and Halley (2019)
|clades={{clade
   |newick1=(''[[Wood Thrush|Hylocichla mustelina]]'',((((''C. ustulatus'',''C. swainsoni''),((''C. minimus'',''C. bicknelli''),''C. fuscescens'')),(((''C. guttatus''),''C. occidentalis''),(''C. gracilirostris'',(''C. frantzii'')))),((''C. fuscater'',(''C. dryas'',''C. maculatus'')),(''C. aurantiirostris'',''C. mexicanus''))))
                    }}
                }}

==Species==
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Image !! Scientific name !! Common Name !! Distribution
|-
|[[File:Catharus dryas 2.jpg|120px]]
|''Catharus dryas''
|[[Yellow-throated nightingale-thrush]]
|Resident: Middle America.
|-
|[[File:Catharus maculatus.jpg|120px]]
|''Catharus maculatus''
|[[Speckled nightingale-thrush]]<br />(split from ''C. dryas'')
|Resident: South America.
|-
|[[File:Orange-billed Nightingale-Thrush, La Concordia, Mexico (17001712972).jpg|120px]]
|''Catharus aurantiirostris''
|[[Orange-billed nightingale-thrush]]
|Resident: Mexico to Colombia and Brazil.
|-
|[[File:Catharus mexicanus -Costa Rica-8.jpg|120px]]
|''Catharus mexicanus''
|[[Black-headed nightingale-thrush]]
|Resident: Mexico to Costa Rica.
|-
|[[File:Catharus fuscater Santa Elena 1.JPG|120px]]
|''Catharus fuscater''
|[[Slaty-backed nightingale-thrush]]
|Resident: Costa Rica to Bolivia.
|-
|[[File:Catharus ustulatus -North Dakota-8a.jpg|120px]]
|''Catharus swainsoni''
|[[Swainson's thrush]]
|Migratory: breeds in North America, winters in Central and South America.
|-
|[[File:Black-billed Nightingale-thrush.jpg|120px]]
|''Catharus gracilirostris''
|[[Black-billed nightingale-thrush]]
|Resident: Costa Rica and Panama.
|-
|[[File:Hermit thrush qmnonic.jpg|120px]]
|''Catharus guttatus''
|[[Hermit thrush]]
|Migratory: breeds and winters in North America.
|-
|[[File:Russet Nightingale-thrush.jpg|120px]]
|''Catharus occidentalis''
|[[Russet nightingale-thrush]]
|Resident: Mexico.
|-
|[[File:Catharus frantzii 57202978.jpg|120px]]
|''Catharus frantzii''
|[[Ruddy-capped nightingale-thrush]]
|Resident: Mexico to Panama.
|-
|[[File:Graycheekedthrush36.jpg|120px]]
|''Catharus minimus''
|[[Gray-cheeked thrush]]
|Migratory: breeds in North America, winters in South America
|-
|[[File:Catharus_bicknelli_Mount_Ellen_3.jpg|120px]]
|''Catharus bicknelli''
|[[Bicknell's thrush]]
|Migratory: breeds in northeastern North America, winters in Hispaniola
|-
|[[File:Veery in CP (43277).jpg|120px]] || ''Catharus fuscescens'' || [[Veery]]||   Migratory: breeds in North America, winters in South America
|}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Passerida|M.|state=collapsed}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q859048}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Catharus| ]]
[[Category:Bird genera]]
[[Category:Birds of the Americas]]
[[Category:Taxa named by Charles Lucien Bonaparte]]