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One bird was a little bit Adele, the other a bit Rod Stewart. And it was the stark contrast of their songs that led scientists to discover they are actually two distinct species.

The Himalayan forest thrush and the raspy singing plain-backed thrush, found in northeastern India and adjacent parts of China, look quite similar. But the singing prowess of the Himalayan thrush (pictured above), combined with its penchant for dense coniferous forests with good undergrowth were clues that the species may actually be unique.

Additional DNA work by an international team of scientists confirmed that the two species are in fact different, WCS recently announced.

The plain-backed thrush, aka Rod Stewart, has now been renamed the alpine thrush.