The Ethiopian thrush (Turdus simensis) is a species of bird in the family Turdidae. It is found primarily in Ethiopia, and also locally in Eritrea. It is a medium-sized thrush 20–22 cm long, with a brown back, two vertical dark brown bars on the face, a spotted breast and belly, and (for a thrush) an unusually short tail. Compared to the closely related groundscraper thrush (T. litsitsirupa) from further south in Africa, it is browner, less grey-coloured above, and has a less marked (though still obvious) face pattern.
Taxonomy The Ethiopian thrush was formally described in 1837 by the German naturalist Eduard Rüppell from a specimen collected in northern Ethiopia. He used the scientific name Merula (Turdus) simensis. The volume is dated 1835 on the title page but it was published in sections and the section containing page 81 was published in 1837. See: The specific epithet is from the type locality, the Simien Mountains.
This thrush was formerly often considered a subspecies of the groundscraper thrush. These two species, each other's closest relatives, are treated in a separate genus Psophocichla by some authors.
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