Friday, October 12, 2012

>Paradoxornis (Suthora) verreauxi (Golden Parrotbill)

Golden Parrotbill


Golden Parrotbill
Conservation status

Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum:Chordata
Class:Aves
Order:Passeriformes
Family:Timaliidae
Genus:Paradoxornis
Species:P. verreauxi
Binomial name
Paradoxornis verreauxi
(Sharpe, 1883)
Synonyms
Suthora verreauxi
The Golden Parrotbill (Paradoxornis verreauxi) is a species of bird in the Timaliidae family. It is found in China, Laos, Myanmar, Taiwan, and Vietnam. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.

P. v. craddocki (above)
Its scientific name commemorates French ornithologist and collector Jules Verreaux.



















>Paradoxornis (Suthora) nipalensis (Black-throated Parrotbill)

Black-throated Parrotbill


Black-throated Parrotbill
Conservation status

Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum:Chordata
Class:Aves
Order:Passeriformes
Family:Sylviidae (see text)
Genus:Paradoxornis
Species:P. nipalensis
Binomial name
Paradoxornis nipalensis
(Hodgson, 1837)
Synonyms
Suthora nipalensis
The Black-throated Parrotbill (Paradoxornis nipalensis) is a bird species often placed with the Old World babblers (family Timaliidae) or in a distinct family Paradoxornithidae, but it actually seems to belong to the Sylviidae.
It is found in Bhutan, China, India, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.













>Paradoxornis (Suthora) fulvifrons (Fulvous Parrotbill)

Fulvous Parrotbill


Fulvous Parrotbill
Conservation status

Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum:Chordata
Class:Aves
Order:Passeriformes
Family:Timaliidae
Genus:Paradoxornis
Species:P. fulvifrons
Binomial name
Paradoxornis fulvifrons
(Hodgson, 1845)
Synonyms
Suthora fulvifrons
The Fulvous Parrotbill (Paradoxornis fulvifrons) is a species of bird in the Timaliidae family. It is found in Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, and Nepal. Its natural habitat is temperate forests.




















Thursday, October 11, 2012

>Paradoxornis (Sinoparadoxornis) przewalskii (Przevalski's Parrotbill)

Przevalski's Parrotbill






Przevalski's Parrotbill
Conservation status

Vulnerable (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum:Chordata
Class:Aves
Order:Passeriformes
Family:Timaliidae
Genus:Paradoxornis
Species:P. przewalskii
Binomial name
Paradoxornis przewalskii
(Berezowski & Bianchi, 1891)
Synonyms
Sinosuthora przewalskii
The Przevalski's Parrotbill or Rusty-throated Parrotbill (Paradoxornis przewalskii) is a species of bird in the Timaliidae family. It is endemic to a small area of central China. Its natural habitat is temperate forests. It is threatened by habitat loss.

>Paradoxornis (Sinoparadoxornis) zappeyi (Grey-hooded Parrotbill)

Grey-hooded Parrotbill








Grey-hooded Parrotbill
Conservation status

Vulnerable (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum:Chordata
Class:Aves
Order:Passeriformes
Family:Timaliidae
Genus:Paradoxornis
Species:P. zappeyi
Binomial name
Paradoxornis zappeyi
(Thayer & Bangs, 1912)
The Grey-hooded Parrotbill (Paradoxornis zappeyi) is a species of bird in the Timaliidae family. It is endemic to China. Its natural habitats are temperate forests and temperate shrubland. It is threatened by habitat loss.









>Paradoxornis (Sinoparadoxornis) webbianus (Vinous-throated Parrotbill)

Vinous-throated Parrotbill



Vinous-throated Parrotbill
P. w. bulomachus, Taiwan
Conservation status

Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum:Chordata
Class:Aves
Order:Passeriformes
Family:Sylviidae
Genus:Paradoxornis
Species:P. webbianus
Binomial name
Paradoxornis webbianus
(Gould, 1852)
Synonyms
Suthora webbianus
Sinosuthora webbiana
The Vinous-throated Parrotbill (Paradoxornis webbianus) is a species of bird in the Sylviidae family; formerly, it was placed in the closely related Timaliidae. It is found in China,Japan, North Korea, South Korea, Mongolia, Russia, Taiwan, and Vietnam. Its natural habitatis subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.


Taxonomy and systematics


Illustration by Joseph Wolf (1866)
The Vinous-throated Parrotbill was described in 1852 by John Gould and placed in the genusSuthora, where it sat with other small browner parrotbills. Later parrotbills were merged into two genera, Conostoma and Paradoxornis; with this species being placed in Paradoxornis. Recent DNA studies have shown that the genus Paradoxornis is paraphyletic, and that it should be split. It is suggested that the Vinous-throated Parrotbill should be placed in the genus Sinoparadoxornis. The Vinous-throated Parrotbill is very closely related to the Ashy-throated Parrotbill, and hybrids have been reported between the two species in Vietnam and China, as well as in Italy where both species have become established.
The specific name webianus commemorates the English botanist Philip Barker Webb. The species is sometimes referred to as Webb's Parrotbill.

Habitat and movements

The Vinous-throated Parrotbill occurs from northern Vietnam to southern Manchuria, and occupies a wide range of habitats across its range. It is generally found in somewhat open wooded habitats, including scrub, woodland of early successional to late mature secondary stages, forest edges, thickets and bamboo stands. It also occurs in hedges, reeds and marshes. They also will adapt to human modified habitats such as tea plantations and plant nurseries. In China it is found in lower montane areas, in Sichuan it is replaced at 1,000 m (3,300 ft) above sea level by the Ashy-throated Parrotbill, whereas in Taiwan, where it is the only species of parrotbill, it occurs from sea level to 3,100 m (10,200 ft) and occupies the widest niche of any bird on that island.

Description

The Vinous-throated Parrotbill is a relatively small and long-tailed parrotbill. It measures between 11–12.5 cm (4.3–4.9 in) in length. The weight varies slightly by sex, with males weighing between 8.5–11 g (0.30–0.39 oz) and the females weighing 7–12 cm (2.8–4.7 in). The tail is graduated and like other parrotbills the bill is short and has the nostrils concealed by feather bristles. The plumage is similar for both sexes, which in the nominate is warm brown on the upperparts, dark brown on the wings (tinged with chestnut on the flight feathers). The upper breast and throat are pinkish-cream with brown streaks on the throat. The flanks are similar to the upperparts but slightly buffy, and the belly is cream-buff merging into the breast. The crown and forehead is rufescent brown, with a pale grey iris and the bill is either slate grey or brown with a paler or yellow tip.

Behaviour

Like other parrotbills and indeed related babblers, the Vinous-throated Parrotbill is a highly social species, usually encountered in groups. These flocks vary in size through the year, being at their smallest during the breeding season and increasing to as many as 140 individual birds in the winter.The members of winter flocks in Taiwan were described by a study as having four categories of member; core members, which never left the flock; regular members, which generally stayed in the flock but visited or briefly joined other flocks; floaters, which moved around between flocks; and peripheral members, which were only seen for less than two months and were assumed to be visitors from other areas. The ranges of large winter flocks can overlap with that of other flocks and flocks passing close together retain their cohesion.

Wednesday, October 10, 2012

>Paradoxornis (Sinoparadoxornis) alphonsianus (Ashy-throated Parrotbill)

Ashy-throated Parrotbill





Ashy-throated Parrotbill
Conservation status

Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum:Chordata
Class:Aves
Order:Passeriformes
Family:Sylviidae
Genus:Paradoxornis (but see text)
Species:P. alphonsianus
Binomial name
Paradoxornis alphonsianus
(J.Verreaux, 1870)
Synonyms
Suthora alphonsiana J.Verreaux, 1870
Sinosuthora alphonsiana
The Ashy-throated ParrotbillParadoxornis alphonsianus, is a songbird. In old sources, it may be called Alphonse's Crow-tit; though superficially resembling a tit it is not a member of the Paridae. The native range of this species extends from south-west China to northern Vietnam, and it might have become naturalised in one area in Italy.


Description and systematics

This is a medium-sized tawny-coloured parrotbill with the large bill typical of these birds. The specific epithet commemorates the French ornithologist Alphonse Milne-Edwards.
Formerly placed in a distinct parrotbill family Paradoxornithidae or with the Old World babblers in the Timaliidae or the tits and chickadees in the Paridae, they are now included with the typical warblers (Sylvia) in the Sylviidae.
They might be less close to the Great Parrotbill (Conostoma oemodium) – which was also in the "Paradoxornithidae" – than to Chrysomma, or to the fulvettas (Fulvetta) which were often included in the wastebin genus Alcippe. Another relative might be the Wrentit (Chamaea fasciata), the only known American member of the Sylviidae in the modern circumscription. The former two, and occasionally also the Wrentit, were traditionally considered Old World babblers.
Together with the other lineages of parrotbills, these and the Golden-breasted Fulvetta (Lioparus chrysotis) and White-browed Chinese Warbler (Rhopophilus pekinensis) form an Asian counterpart to the westward radiation of the typical warblers. Rather than two genera –Paradoxornis and the monotypic Conostoma –, the parrotbills are better considered several independent lineages which show pronounced convergent evolution, due to adaptation to reedbed habitat and a more granivorous diet than their skulking warbler-like ancestor. In this case, the Ashy-throated Parrotbill would probably be assigned to genus Sinoparadoxornis.

Lago di Varese (front) and Lago di Comabbio, with the Brabbia Swamp Nature Reserve left of center

Possible naturalisation in Italy

A population of parrotbills was first discovered in northern Italy in 1995, at the Riserva naturale Palude Brabbia (Brabbia Swamp Nature Reserve), between Cazzago Brabbia on Lago di Varese and Varano Borghi on Lago di Comabbio. In March 1998, 21 individuals were captured and photographed, and provisionally identified as Ashy-throated Parrotbills. It is not entirely clear, however, whether the birds are indeed P. alphonsianus, its close relative the P. webbianus (Vinous-throated Parrotbill), both species, or even hybrids between them (as are known from their natural range). While they do not seem to be Brown-winged Parrotbills (P. brunneus, another close relative), certain identification to species may be impossible without analysis of both nDNA and mtDNA sequence data.
The population is believed to originate from birds escaping from a nearby bird-trader. By 1999, the number of birds in the swamp had grown to at least a hundred individuals; in December 1998, the parrotbills were also observed in two localities on the Lago di Varese. By the early 21st century, the birds are well-established as resident breeders. They are the only self-sustaining parrotbill population found in Europe, as it was discovered that the Bearded Reedling (Panurus biarmicus) – long believed to be an aberrant parrotbill – is actually a distinct lineage with no known relatives among the Passerida.

Ecology

Contrary to their western Eurasian relatives (the typical warblers), these East Asian birds are small omnivores adapted to living in reed beds. In its native range, the Ashy-throated Parrotbill inhabits bamboo stands and areas with tall grasses. The parrotbills in Brabbia Swamp Nature Reserve inhabit Common Reed (Phragmites australis) beds and drier land overgrown with Meadowsweet (Filipendula ulmaria), Grey Willow (Salix cinerea) and Giant Goldenrod (Solidago gigantea).
It feeds on arthropods, seeds and buds; in winter, the Italian birds seem to sustain themselves on insects that hibernate in reed stalks. As in its relatives in (sub)genus Sinoparadoxornis, its eggs are small by parrotbill standards, whitish- to light-blue and unspotted.
This bird will disappear if wetlands are drained, but its range is considerable and much of its habitat is remote and little accessed. It is thus considered a Species of Least Concern by the IUCN.

>Paradoxornis (Sinoparadoxornis) brunneus ricketti (Yunnan Parrotbill)

Yunnan Parrotbill




Yunnan Parrotbill
Scientific classification
Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum:Chordata
Class:Aves
Order:Passeriformes
Family:Timaliidae
Genus:Paradoxornis
Species:P. brunneus
Trinomial name
Paradoxornis brunneus ricketti
Rothschild, 1922
The Yunnan ParrotbillParadoxornis brunneus ricketti, is a species of bird in the Old World babbler family. This 10 cm long parrotbill is endemic to China, breeding in northwest Yunnan.
It is often considered conspecific with the Brown-winged Parrotbill, Paradoxornis brunneus, (sometimes the Vinous-throated Parrotbill, Paradoxornis webbianus). Its behaviour is described as similar to that of Vinous-throated 

>Paradoxornis (Sinoparadoxornis) brunneus (Brown-winged Parrotbill)

Brown-winged Parrotbill







Brown-winged Parrotbill
Conservation status

Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum:Chordata
Class:Aves
Order:Passeriformes
Family:Sylviidae
Genus:Paradoxornis
Species:P. brunneus
Binomial name
Paradoxornis brunneus
(Anderson, 1871)
Synonyms
Sinosuthora brunnea
The Brown-winged Parrotbill (Paradoxornis brunneus) is a bird species often placed with the Old World babblers (family Timaliidae) or in a distinct family Paradoxornithidae, but it actually seems to belong to the Sylviidae.
It is found in China and Myanmar.

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

>Sinoparadoxornis conspicillatus (Spectacled Parrotbill)

Spectacled Parrotbill







Spectacled Parrotbill
Conservation status

Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum:Chordata
Class:Aves
Order:Passeriformes
Family:Timaliidae
Genus:Paradoxornis
Species:P. conspicillatus
Binomial name
Paradoxornis conspicillatus
(David, 1871)
Synonyms
Sinosuthora conspicillata
The Spectacled Parrotbill (Paradoxornis conspicillatus) is a species of bird in the Timaliidae family. It is endemic to central China. Its natural habitats are temperate forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.

>Chleuasicus atrosuperciliaris (Pale-billed Parrotbill)

Pale-billed Parrotbill





Pale-billed Parrotbill
Conservation status

Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum:Chordata
Class:Aves
Order:Passeriformes
Family:Timaliidae
Genus:Paradoxornis
Species:P. atrosuperciliaris
Binomial name
Paradoxornis atrosuperciliaris
(Godwin-Austen, 1877)
Synonyms
Chleuasicus atrosuperciliaris
The Pale-billed Parrotbill (Paradoxornis atrosuperciliaris), also known as the Black-browed Parrotbill or Lesser Rufous-headed Parrotbill, is a species of bird in the Timaliidae family.
It is found in Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Laos, Myanmar, and Thailand.
Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.

>Calamornis heudei (Reed Parrotbill)

Reed Parrotbill



Reed Parrotbill
Conservation status

Near Threatened (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum:Chordata
Class:Aves
Order:Passeriformes
Family:Timaliidae
Genus:Paradoxornis
Species:P. heudei
Binomial name
Paradoxornis heudei
David, 1872
The Reed Parrotbill (Paradoxornis heudei) is a species of bird in the Timaliidae family. It is found in China, Mongolia, and Russia. It is threatened by habitat loss.
The northern subspecies P. h. polivanovi is sometimes regarded as a separate species, theNorthern Parrotbill.

Monday, October 8, 2012

>Psittiparus ruficeps (Rufous-headed Parrotbill)

Rufous-headed Parrotbill


Rufous-headed Parrotbill
P. ruficeps in Arunachal Pradesh
Conservation status

Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum:Chordata
Class:Aves
Order:Passeriformes
Family:Sylviidae (see text)
Genus:Paradoxornis
Species:P. ruficeps
Binomial name
Paradoxornis ruficeps
Blyth, 1842
The Rufous-headed Parrotbill or Greater Rufous-headed Parrotbill (Paradoxornis ruficeps) is a bird species often placed with the Old World babblers (family Timaliidae) or in a distinct family Paradoxornithidae, but it actually seems to belong to the Sylviidae.

Greater Rufous-headed Parrotbill


















It is found in Bangladesh,Bhutan, China, India, Laos,Myanmar, and Vietnam. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.
It is sometimes split into two species: White-breasted Parrotbill (P. ruficeps) and Rufous-headed Parrotbill (P. bakeri).

>Psittiparus margaritae - formerly (Black-headed Parrotbill)

Black-headed Parrotbill





Black-headed Parrotbill
Conservation status

Near Threatened (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum:Chordata
Class:Aves
Order:Passeriformes
Family:Sylviidae (see text)
Genus:Paradoxornis
Species:P. margaritae
Binomial name
Paradoxornis margaritae
Delacour, 1927
Synonyms
Psittiparus margaritae
The Black-headed Parrotbill (Paradoxornis margaritae) is a bird species often placed with the Old World babblers (family Timaliidae) or in a distinct family Paradoxornithidae, but it actually seems to belong to the Sylviidae.
It is found in Cambodia and Vietnam. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.