The Campina thrush was originally described by Charles Chubb as Arthur's thrush in 1914 from a specimen taken near the Abary River in British Guiana (modern day Guyana), and placed in the genus Planesticus.

[2] It was considered a subspecies of black-billed thrush until 2019 when a proposal to split it and the Pantepui thrush was unanimously approved by the South American Classification Committee.

It looks similar to its relative the Pantepui thrush, but is smaller with a slight olive wash on its wings and a generally more ashy appearance.

[4] The species is the most common Turdus thrush of disturbed habitats in west central Amazonia and on the Guianan Shield, occurring in Brazil, Guyana, Suriname, and Venezuela.

It inhabits a variety of habitats including clearings, savannas with gallery woodland, cerrado, humid forest borders, coffee plantations, and various other habitats under anthropogenic influence.