In Japan it arrives in woodland in autumn and also uses fields, riverbanks and lawns in winter. It runs over the ground and repeatedly pauses.
It has an eyebrow-like stripe above the eye and mottling on the breast.
Jiang et al. studied Naumann’s Thrush (Turdus naumanni), Dusky Thrush (T. eunomus) and Red-throated Thrush (T. ruficollis) using whole-genome data from 66 individuals, alongside a new chromosome-level genome assembly. Differences between Naumann’s and Dusky Thrushes were concentrated in a few genomic islands.
Some islands overlapped regions that had introgressed from Red-throated Thrushes into Naumann’s. Those regions included ASIP, OCA2 and HERC2, genes related to melanin pigmentation that the study reported under strong selection in Naumann’s Thrushes. The authors proposed that this shared genetic history helps explain the plumage similarity between Naumann’s and Red-throated Thrushes.
IUCN Red List (BirdLife DataZone, East Asia-Australasia Flyway factsheet) · Least Concern (LC) · Global
BirdLife DataZone lists the Dusky Thrush in the global Least Concern (LC) category.