 In 1879 it was subsumed as a subspecies of the spotted nightingale-thrush, as "Cantharus dryas maculatus".In 2017, it was argued based on phylogenetic analysis of mitochondrial DNA, morphometric and vocal data analyses, and modeling of ecological niches, that it should again be considered a separate species.The former "spotted nightingale-thrush" ("Cantharus dryas sensu lato") was split into Sclater's nightingale-thrush ("C. maculatus") and Gould's nightingale-thrush ("C. dryas sensu stricto").