A species split from the formerly broad Island Thrush complex. It includes mountain populations on Negros and several parts of Mindanao, with plumage varying among island forms.
The Negros form is all brown. Mindanao forms are mainly blackish with greyer hoods, except for the chestnut-bellied katanglad form.
Clements describes all included island populations as montane.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.