Common iora

Last updated

Common iora
Common Iora.jpg
Common iora
Call of Common Iora
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Aegithinidae
Genus: Aegithina
Species:
A. tiphia
Binomial name
Aegithina tiphia
Synonyms

Motacilla tiphiaLinnaeus, 1758

Common Iora from Bangladesh by Sifat Sharker Iora.jpg
Common Iora from Bangladesh by Sifat Sharker

The common iora (Aegithina tiphia) is a small passerine bird found across the tropical Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia, with populations showing plumage variations, some of which are designated as subspecies. A species found in scrub and forest, it is easily detected from its loud whistles and the bright colours. During the breeding season, males display by fluffing up their feathers and spiral in the air appearing like a green, black, yellow, and white ball.

Contents

Taxonomy

In 1747 the English naturalist George Edwards included an illustration and a description of the common iora in the second volume of his A Natural History of Uncommon Birds. He used the English name "The Green Indian Fly-Catcher". Edwards based his hand-coloured etching on a specimen that had been sent from Bengal to the silk-pattern designer and naturalist Joseph Dandridge in London. [2] When in 1758 the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus updated his Systema Naturae for the tenth edition, he placed the common iora in the genus Motacilla . Linnaeus included a brief description, coined the binomial name Motacilla tiphia and cited Edwards' work. [3] The common iora is now placed in the genus Aegithina that was introduced in 1816 by the French ornithologist Louis Pierre Vieillot. [4] [5] The genus name Aegithina is from Ancient Greek aigithos or aiginthos, a mythical bird mentioned by Aristotle and other classical authors. The etymology of specific epithet tiphia is uncertain. It may be from the Ancient Greek tuphē, tiara, from Tiphys who in Greek mythology was the helmsman of the Argonauts. [6]

Eleven subspecies are recognised: [5]

Description

Ioras have a pointed and notched beak with a culmen that is straight. The common iora is sexually dimorphic, males in the breeding season have a black cap and back adding to a black wing and tail at all seasons. Females have greenish wings and an olive tail. The undersides of both are yellow and the two white bars on the wings of the male are particularly prominent in their breeding plumage. The males in breeding plumage have a very variable distribution of the black on the upperparts and can be confused with Marshall's iora, however, the latter always has white tips to the tail. [7] The nominate subspecies is found along the Himalayas and males of this population are very similar to females or have only a small amount of black on the crown. In northwestern India, septentrionalis is brighter yellow than others and in the northern plains of India humei males in breeding plumage have a black cap and olive on the upper mantle. In southwestern India and Sri Lanka multicolor has the breeding males with a jet black cap and mantle. The forms in the rest of southern India are intermediate between multicolor and humei with more grey-green on the rump (formerly considered as deignani but now used for the Burmese population). [7] [8] [9] [10]

Common Iora, Male, Pune Yellow Bird India.jpg
Common Iora, Male, Pune

Several other populations across Southeast Asia are designated as subspecies including philipi of southern China and northern Thailand/Laos, deignani of Myanmar, horizoptera of southern Myanmar and the island chain of Sumatra, cambodiana of Cambodia, aeqanimis of Palawan and northern Borneo, viridis of Borneo and scapularis of Java and Bali. [11] [12]

Behaviour and ecology

Ioras forage in trees in small groups, gleaning among the branches for insects. They sometimes join mixed species feeding flocks. The call is a mixture of churrs, chattering and whistles, and the song is a trilled wheeeee-tee. They may sometimes imitate the calls of other birds such as drongos. [13]

A. t. multicolor: male in Hyderabad, India Common Iora (Aegithina tiphia) in Hyderabad W IMG 8863.jpg
A. t. multicolor: male in Hyderabad, India

During the breeding season, mainly after the monsoons, the male performs an acrobatic courtship display, darting up into the air fluffing up all his feathers, especially those on the pale green rump, then spiralling down to the original perch. Once he lands, he spreads his tail and droops his wings. [8] Two to four greenish white eggs are laid in a small and compact cup-shaped nest made out of grass and bound with cobwebs and placed in the fork of a tree. Both male and female incubate [14] and eggs hatch after about 14 days. Nests predators include snakes, lizards, crow-pheasant and crows. [15] Nests may also be brood-parasitized by the banded bay cuckoo. [16]

Ioras moult twice in a year and the plumage variation makes them somewhat complicated for plumage based separation of the populations. [16]

A species of Haemoproteus , H. aethiginae, was described from a specimen of the common iora from Goa. [17]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Iora</span> Genus of birds

The ioras are a small family, Aegithinidae, of four passerine bird species found in south and southeast Asia. The family is composed of a single genus, Aegithina. They were formerly grouped with the leafbirds and fairy-bluebirds, in the family Irenidae.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dunlin</span> Species of bird

The dunlin is a small wader, formerly sometimes separated with the other "stints" in the genus Erolia. The English name is a dialect form of "dunling", first recorded in 1531–1532. It derives from dun, "dull brown", with the suffix -ling, meaning a person or thing with the given quality.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Two-barred crossbill</span> Species of bird

The two-barred crossbill or white-winged crossbill is a small passerine bird in the finch family Fringillidae. It breeds in the coniferous forests of North America and the Palearctic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">White-breasted woodswallow</span> Species of bird

The white-breasted woodswallow is a medium-sized passerine bird which breeds from the Andaman Islands east through Indonesia and northern Australia. The name "woodswallow" is a misnomer as they are not closely related to true swallows. Instead, they belong to the family Artamidae, which also includes butcherbirds, currawongs and the Australian magpie.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Striated pardalote</span> Species of bird

The striated pardalote is the least colourful and most common of the four pardalote species. Other common names include pickwick, wittachew and chip-chip. It is a very small, short-tailed bird that is more often heard than seen, foraging noisily for lerps and other small creatures in the treetops.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cinnamon bittern</span> Species of bird

The cinnamon bittern or chestnut bittern is a small Old World bittern, breeding in tropical and subtropical Asia from India east to China and Indonesia. It is mainly resident, but some northern birds migrate short distances.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Red spurfowl</span> Species of bird

The red spurfowl is a member of the pheasant family and is endemic to India. It is a bird of forests, and is quite secretive despite its size. It has a distinctive call and is often hard to see except for a few seconds when it flushes from the undergrowth. It appears reddish and like a long-tailed partridge. The bare skin around the eye is reddish. The legs of both males and females have one or two spurs, which give them their name.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Loten's sunbird</span> Species of bird

Loten's sunbird, also known as the long-billed sunbird or maroon-breasted sunbird, is a sunbird endemic to peninsular India and Sri Lanka. Named after Joan Gideon Loten, who was the Dutch governor of colonial Ceylon, it is very similar to the purple sunbird that is found in the same areas and also tends to hover at flowers for nectar, but can be distinguished by the longer bill, the maroon band on the breast and brownish wings. Like other sunbirds, it is also insectivorous and builds characteristic hanging nests.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Black bulbul</span> Species of bird

The black bulbul, also known as the Himalayan black bulbul or Asian black bulbul, is a member of the bulbul family of passerine birds. It is found primarily in the Himalayas, its range stretching from India eastward to Southeast Asia. It is the type species of the genus Hypsipetes, established by Nicholas Aylward Vigors in the early 1830s. There are a number of subspecies, mostly varying in the shade of the body plumage which ranges from grey to black, and some also occur in white-headed morphs, as also suggested by its specific epithet leucocephalus, literally "white head". The legs and bill are always rich orange-red.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Black-faced cuckooshrike</span> Species of bird

The black-faced cuckooshrike is a common omnivorous passerine bird native to Australia and southern New Guinea. It has a protected status in Australia, under the National Parks and Wildlife Act, 1974.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Indian paradise flycatcher</span> Species of bird

The Indian paradise flycatcher is a medium-sized passerine bird native to Asia, where it is widely distributed. As the global population is considered stable, it has been listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List since 2004. It is native to the Indian subcontinent, Central Asia and Myanmar.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scarlet robin</span> Songbird species native to southern Australia

The scarlet robin is a common red-breasted Australasian robin in the passerine bird genus Petroica. The species is found on continental Australia and its offshore islands, including Tasmania. The species was originally split in 1999 by Schodde and Mason, and as the original collection by Gmelin was from Norfolk Island, this retained the name of multicolor, and is now known as the Norfolk robin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marshall's iora</span> Species of bird

Marshall's iora, also known as the white-tailed iora, is a songbird in the genus Aegithina found in parts of India and Sri Lanka.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Common woodshrike</span> Species of bird

The common woodshrike is a species of bird found in Asia. It is now usually considered a member of the family Vangidae. It is small and ashy brown with a dark cheek patch and a broad white brow. It is found across Asia mainly in thin forest and scrub habitats where they hunt insects, often joining other insectivorous birds. The form found in Sri Lanka which was treated as a subspecies is now usually considered a separate species, the Sri Lanka woodshrike.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dark-sided flycatcher</span> Species of bird

The dark-sided flycatcher is a small passerine bird belonging to the genus Muscicapa in the Old World flycatcher family Muscicapidae. It has a wide breeding distribution in the East Palearctic with northern birds migrating south for the winter. It is also known as the Siberian flycatcher or sooty flycatcher, the latter name is also used for the sooty flycatcher of Africa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thick-billed green pigeon</span> Species of bird

The thick-billed green pigeon is a species of bird in the family Columbidae.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Green iora</span> Species of bird

The green iora is a species of bird in the family Aegithinidae. It is found in the Thai-Malay Peninsula, Sumatra and Borneo. Its habitats include lowland forests, secondary forest and mangrove forest. It is threatened by habitat loss, and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has assessed it as near-threatened.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grey-chinned minivet</span> Species of bird

The grey-chinned minivet is a species of bird in the family Campephagidae. It is found from the Himalayas to China, Taiwan and Southeast Asia. Its natural habitat is forests about 1,000–2,000 m (3,300–6,600 ft) in elevation. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has assessed it as a least-concern species.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Norfolk robin</span> Species of songbird native to Norfolk Island

The Norfolk robin, also known as the Norfolk Island scarlet robin or Norfolk Island robin, is a small bird in the Australasian robin family Petroicidae. It is endemic to Norfolk Island, an Australian territory in the Tasman Sea, between Australia and New Zealand.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yellow-crowned bishop</span> Species of bird

The yellow-crowned bishop is a species of passerine bird in the family Ploceidae native to Africa south of the Sahara. It is highly sexually dimorphic in its breeding season, during which the male adopts a distinctive yellow and black plumage, contrasting with the female's predominantly brown coloration. Four subspecies are recognised.

References

  1. BirdLife International (2016). "Aegithina tiphia". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2016: e.T22707433A94123624. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22707433A94123624.en . Retrieved 13 November 2021.
  2. Edwards, George (1747). A Natural History of Uncommon Birds. Vol. Part II. London: Printed for the author at the College of Physicians. p. 79, Plate 79.
  3. Linnaeus, Carl (1758). Systema Naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis (in Latin). Vol. 1 (10th ed.). Holmiae (Stockholm): Laurentii Salvii. p. 186.
  4. Vieillot, Louis Pierre (1816). Analyse d'une Nouvelle Ornithologie Élémentaire (in French). Paris: Deterville/self. p. 44.
  5. 1 2 Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (July 2021). "Waxbills, parrotfinches, munias, whydahs, Olive Warbler, accentors, pipits". IOC World Bird List Version 11.2. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 9 October 2021.
  6. Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. pp.  33, 386. ISBN   978-1-4081-2501-4.
  7. 1 2 Rasmussen PC; JC Anderton (2005). Birds of South Asia: The Ripley Guide. Volume 2. Smithsonian Institution & Lynx Edicions. pp. 344–346.
  8. 1 2 Baker, ECS (1922). Fauna of British India. Birds. Volume 1 (2nd ed.). Taylor and Francis, London. pp. 339–343.
  9. Wells, D.R.; E.C. Dickinson & R.W.R.J. Dekker (2003). "Systematic notes on Asian birds. 34. A preliminary review of the Aegithinidae". Zool. Verh. Leiden. 344: 7–15.
  10. Dickinson, E.C.; R.W.R.J. Dekker; S. Eck & S. Somadikarta (2003). "Systematic notes on Asian birds. 35. Types of the Aegithinidae" (PDF). Zool. Verh. Leiden. 344: 17–24. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-10-26. Retrieved 2010-09-12.
  11. Mayr E; JC Greenway, eds. (1960). Check-list of the birds of the world. Volume 9. Museum of Comparative Zoology, Massachusetts. pp. 300–302.
  12. Marien, D (1952). "The systematics of Aegithina nigrolutea and Aegithina tiphia (Aves, Irenidae)". Am. Mus. Novit. 1589: 1–17. hdl:2246/4066.
  13. Bharos, A. M. K. (1998). "Mimicry by common Iora Aegithina tiphia". J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 95 (1): 116.
  14. Wesley, H Daniel (1984). "Frequency and duration of incubation of the eggs for Aegithina tiphia". J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 81 (1): 193–195.
  15. Ali, S (1931). "Casualties among the eggs and young of small birds". J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 34 (4): 1062–1067.
  16. 1 2 Ali, S; SD Ripley (1996). Handbook of the Birds of India and Pakistan. Volume 6 (2nd ed.). Oxford University Press. pp. 47–54.
  17. de Mello, I. (1935). "New hæmoproteids of some Indian birds". Proceedings of the Indian Academy of Sciences, Section B. 2 (5): 469–475. doi:10.1007/BF03053034. S2CID   82402365.