The dusky thrush is a member of the thrush family which breeds eastwards from central Siberia to Kamchatka wintering in Korea, Japan, South China and Myanmar. It is closely related to the more southerly breeding Naumann's thrush T. naumanni; the two have often been regarded as conspecific. The scientific name comes from Latin Turdus, "thrush" and Ancient Greek eunomos, "orderly".