Red-billed leiothrix

Leiothrix lutea

SUBFAMILY

Timaliinae

TAXONOMY

Sylvia lutea Scopoli, 1786, Anhui. Five subspecies generally recognized.

OTHER COMMON NAMES

English: Pekin robin, red-billed hill tit; French: Léiothrix jaune; German: Sonnenvogel.

PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS

6 in (15.5 cm); 0.8 oz (22 g). Unmistakable combination of red bill, dark eyes with white ring, orange chest, yellow

throat, olive back, orange and yellow wings, and uniquely forked tail.

DISTRIBUTION

The length of the Himalayas, Assam, western and northern Myanmar, southern China, northern Vietnam. Introduced in Hawaiian islands of Oahu, Hawaii, Maui, Molokai, and Kaua'i, though now possibly extinct on last island.

HABITAT

Undergrowth of secondary forests and bamboo stands, gardens.

BEHAVIOR

Found in groups, which, when perched, typically maintain close bodily contact with frequent mutual preening. In winter, moves to lower elevations.

FEEDING ECOLOGY AND DIET

Groups mostly forage near ground for insects, fruits, seeds, and flowers.

REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY

Apparent group courtship, followed by pairs separating off and setting up territories. Distinctive male territorial song. Both sexes build cup-shaped nest from a variety of plant materials and cocoon silk. Usual clutch three to four greenish white, variously speckled eggs.

CONSERVATION STATUS

Not threatened. Massive exploitation for cage bird trade led to listing as CITES Appendix II in 1997. China banned commercial export of songbirds in 2001. Mysterious, brightly colored L. lutea astleyi may represent a population trapped to extinction.

SIGNIFICANCE TO HUMANS

Enormously popular cage bird. Implicated in spreading malaria to native Hawaiian birds.

Red-billed Leiothrix
Conservation status
Least Concern [1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Aves Order: Passeriformes Family: Timaliidae Genus: Leiothrix Species: L. lutea
Binomial name
Leiothrix lutea (Scopoli, 1786)

The Red-billed Leiothrix Leiothrix lutea is a member of the Old World babbler family. It is a common cagebird and amongst aviculturists it goes by various names: Pekin Robin, Pekin Nightingale, Chinese Nightingale and Japanese (Hill) Robin, the last being a misnomer as it is not native to Japan.

Adults have bright red bills and a dull yellow ring around their eyes. Their backs are dull olive green and have a bright yellow-orange throat with a yellow chin; females are somewhat duller than males, and juveniles have black bills.

The Red-billed Leiothrix is native to Southern Asia. It has also been introduced on the Hawaiian Islands and small populations of escapees have existed in Japan since the 1980s.

References

1. ^ BirdLife International (2004). Leiothrix lutea. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 12 May 2006. Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Red-billed Leiothrix

• Red-billed Leiothrix photo on Pc-Zoo

This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)