white-browed bush robin
{{Short description|Species of bird}}
{{Speciesbox
| image = White-browed Bush-Robin cropped.jpg
| image_caption = In Phulchoki, Nepal
| status = LC
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| genus = Tarsiger
| species = indicus
| authority = (Vieillot, 1817)
| synonyms =
}}
The white-browed bush robin (Tarsiger indicus) is a species of passerine bird in the Old World flycatcher family Muscicapidae that is found from the Himalayas to south-central China and north Vietnam. Its natural habitat is Rhododendron and conifer forests.{{Cite book|chapter-url=http://www.hbw.com/species/white-browed-bush-robin-tarsiger-indicus|doi = 10.2173/bow.wbbrob1.01|chapter = White-browed Bush-Robin (Tarsiger indicus)|title = Birds of the World|year = 2020|last1 = Collar|first1 = Nigel|s2cid = 216294797|editor1-first = Josep|editor1-last = Del Hoyo|editor2-first = Andrew|editor2-last = Elliott|editor3-first = Jordi|editor3-last = Sargatal|editor4-first = David|editor4-last = Christie|editor5-first = Eduardo|editor5-last = De Juana}} The Taiwan bush robin was formerly regarded as a subspecies.
Taxonomy
The white-browed bush robin was formally described in 1817 by the French ornithologist Louis Vieillot under the binomial name Sylvia indica. Vieillot based his account on "Le rossignol de muraille des Indes" that had been described by Pierre Sonnerat in his "Voyage aux Indes orientales et à la Chine".{{ cite book | last=Vieillot | first=Louis Pierre | author-link=Louis Pierre Vieillot | year=1817 | title=Nouveau dictionnaire d'histoire naturelle, appliquée aux arts, à l'agriculture, à l'économie rurale et domestique, à la médecine, etc. | edition=Nouvelle édition | volume=11 | location=Paris | publisher=Deterville | page=267 | language=French | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/19428032 }}{{ cite book | last=Sonnerat | first=Pierre | author-link=Pierre Sonnerat | date=1782 | title=Voyage aux Indes orientales et à la Chine, fait par ordre du Roi, depuis 1774 jusqu'en 1782 | volume=2 | language=French | location=Paris | publisher=Chez l'Auteur | page=208 | url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k15182388/f303.item }} The type locality was restricted to Darjeeling by E. C. Stuart Baker in 1921.{{ cite journal | last=Baker | first=E.C. Stuart | author-link=E. C. Stuart Baker | date=1921 | title=Hand-list of the "Birds of India" Part III | journal=Journal Bombay Natural History Society | volume=27 | pages=692-744 [714] | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/30359377 }}{{ cite book | editor1-last=Mayr | editor1-first=Ernst | editor1-link=Ernst Mayr | editor2-last=Paynter | editor2-first=Raymond A. Jr | year=1964 | title=Check-List of Birds of the World | volume=10 | publisher=Museum of Comparative Zoology | location=Cambridge, Massachusetts | page=49 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/14486238 }} The white-browed bush is now one of eight bush robins placed in the genus Tarsiger that was introduced by Brian Hodgson in 1845.{{cite web| editor1-last=Gill | editor1-first=Frank | editor1-link=Frank Gill (ornithologist) | editor2-last=Donsker | editor2-first=David | editor3-last=Rasmussen | editor3-first=Pamela | editor3-link=Pamela C. Rasmussen | date=August 2024 | title=Chats, Old World flycatchers | work=IOC World Bird List Version 14.2 | url=https://www.worldbirdnames.org/bow/chats/ | publisher=International Ornithologists' Union | access-date=25 November 2024}}
Two subspecies are recognised:
- T. i. indicus (Vieillot, 1817) – central, east Himalayas
- T. i. yunnanensis Rothschild, 1922 – north Myanmar, central south China and north Vietnam
The Taiwan bush robin (Tarsiger formosanus) was formerly regarded as a subspecies but is now considered as a separate species based both on a phylogenetic study published in 2022 as well as the differences in plumage and vocalizations.{{Cite journal | last1=Wei | first1=C. | last2=Sangster | first2=G. | last3=Olsson | first3=U. | last4=Rasmussen | first4=P.C. | last5=Svensson | first5=L. | last6=Yao | first6=C.-T. | last7=Carey | first7=G.J. | last8=Leader | first8=P.J. | last9=Zhang | first9=R. | last10=Chen | first10=G. | last11=Song | first11=G. | last12=Lei | first12=F. | last13=Wilcove | first13=D.S. | last14=Alström | first14=P. | last15=Liu | first15=Y. | date=2022 | title=Cryptic species in a colorful genus: Integrative taxonomy of the bush robins (Aves, Muscicapidae, Tarsiger) suggests two overlooked species | journal=Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution | volume=175 | pages=107580 | doi=10.1016/j.ympev.2022.107580 | doi-access=free }}{{cite web| editor1-last=Gill | editor1-first=Frank | editor1-link=Frank Gill (ornithologist) | editor2-last=Donsker | editor2-first=David | editor3-last=Rasmussen | editor3-first=Pamela | editor3-link=Pamela C. Rasmussen | date=August 2024 | title=Chats, Old World flycatchers | work=IOC World Bird List Version 14.2 | url=https://www.worldbirdnames.org/bow/chats/ | publisher=International Ornithologists' Union | access-date=25 November 2024}}
Description
White-browed bush robins display delayed plumage maturation—after becoming capable of breeding, first-year males (subadults) retain their juvenile plumage (similar to that of adult females) to avoid direct competition with older males.{{Cite journal |last=DuBay |first=Shane G. |last2=Wu |first2=Yongjie |last3=Scott |first3=Graham R. |last4=Qu |first4=Yanhua |last5=Liu |first5=Qiao |last6=Smith |first6=Joel H. |last7=Xin |first7=Chao |last8=Hart Reeve |first8=Andrew |last9=Juncheng |first9=Chen |last10=Meyer |first10=Dylan |last11=Wang |first11=Jing |last12=Johnson |first12=Jacob |last13=Cheviron |first13=Zachary A. |last14=Lei |first14=Fumin |last15=Bates |first15=John |date=2020-03-26 |title=Life history predicts flight muscle phenotype and function in birds |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1365-2656.13190 |journal=Journal of Animal Ecology |volume=89 |issue=5 |pages=1262–1276 |doi=10.1111/1365-2656.13190 |issn=0021-8790|hdl=2027.42/155496 |hdl-access=free }}
Behaviour
References
{{Reflist}}
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Category:Birds of Northeast India
Category:Birds described in 1817