On July 28, 1872 U.S. Army Lieutenant Charles Bendire was hiking through the brushy desert near Fort Lowell, Arizona.
While exploring the desert Bendire, an avid bird enthusiast, spotted a bird that was unfamiliar to him.
Lieutenant Bendire shot the bird, which appeared to be a female thrasher, and sent its remains to the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.
The remains of the specimen were examined by Elliott Coues, who was perplexed as to its species.
After several of Coues's colleagues looked at the bird they believed it was a female curve-billed thrasher, but Coues did not agree with their conclusion.
Coues believed that the thrasher was a species unknown to science and sought out Bendire for additional information on the bird.
Bendire replied to Coues with his affirmation that he also believed that it was a new species.

Lieutenant Bendire soon sent back a second specimen of the thrasher, a male, and details about its habits and eggs, all which were different from those of a curve-billed thrasher.
Finally convinced, Coues named the new thrasher species Bendire's thrasher in the honor of Charles Bendire.
On July 28, 1872 U.S. Army Lieutenant Charles Bendire was hiking through the brushy desert near Fort Lowell, Arizona. While exploring the desert Bendire, an avid bird enthusiast, spotted a bird that was unfamiliar to him. Lieutenant Bendire shot the bird, which appeared to be a female thrasher, and sent its remains to the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.
The remains of the specimen were examined by Elliott Coues, who was perplexed as to its species. After several of Coues's colleagues looked at the bird they believed it was a female curve-billed thrasher, but Coues did not agree with their conclusion. Coues believed that the thrasher was a species unknown to science and sought out Bendire for additional information on the bird. Bendire replied to Coues with his affirmation that he also believed that it was a new species.
Lieutenant Bendire soon sent back a second specimen of the thrasher, a male, and details about its habits and eggs, all which were different from those of a curve-billed thrasher. Finally convinced, Coues named the new thrasher species Bendire's thrasher in the honor of Charles Bendire.
Bendire's thrasher