Song thrush "thrush." Mavis (Μαβής) can also mean "purple" in Greek. A recent molecular study indicates that the song thrush's closest relatives are the similarly plumaged mistle thrush ("T. viscivorus") and Chinese thrush ("T. mupinensis"); these three species are early offshoots from the lineage of "Turdus" thrushes before they diversified and spread across the globe, and hence are less closely related to other European thrush species such as the blackbird ("T. merula"). The song thrush has three subspecies, with the nominate subspecies, "T. p. philomelos", covering the majority of the species' range. "T. p. hebridensis", described by British ornithologist William Eagle Clarke
Song thrush a red underwing in flight. The mistle thrush ("T. viscivorus") is much larger and has white tail corners, and the Chinese thrush ("T. mupinensis"), although much more similar in plumage, has black face markings and does not overlap in range. The song thrush has a short, sharp "tsip" call, replaced on migration by a thin high "seep", similar to the redwing's call but shorter. The alarm call is a "chook-chook" becoming shorter and more strident with increasing danger. The male's song, given from trees, rooftops or other elevated perches, is a loud clear run of musical phrases, repeated two to