Giant babax

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Giant babax
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Leiothrichidae
Genus: Pterorhinus
Species:
P. waddelli
Binomial name
Pterorhinus waddelli
(Dresser, 1905)
Synonyms

Ianthocincla waddelli
Babax waddelli

The giant babax (Pterorhinus waddelli) is a species of bird in the laughingthrush family Leiothrichidae, found in India and Tibet. It prefers the low bushes at the edge of the southern Tibetan plateau, [2] but it can adapt to both dry and cold mountain habitats. [3] It is also commonly seen around villages and monasteries, where it feeds off scraps. [2]

Description

It is a bulky, long-tailed brown bird with a curved bill and dark streaks. [2] On average, it is 31-34 cm long. [3] Its vocalizations vary between melodic flute-like notes and harsh jabbering ones. [2]

Threats

It is threatened by habitat loss. [2]

Diet

Its diet includes insects (lepidoptera and diptera) and berries in the summer, and crop seeds, berries, and plant rhizomes in the winter. [3]

Breeding

Its breeding season lasts from May to July. [3] It mainly nests in willows (Salix longistamina), Rosa sericea, Populus szechuanica Schneid, Cotoneaster microphyllus, and elm trees. [3] It prefers to nest in areas dense with trees, close to water but far from human settlements. [3]

Taxonomy

The giant babax was described by the English ornithologist Henry Dresser in 1905 from a specimen collected by the British explorer Laurence Waddell in the Yarlung Tsangpo river valley in Tibet. [4] Based on the results of a comprehensive molecular phylogenetic study of the Leiothrichidae that was published in 2018, the giant babax was placed in the resurrected genus Pterorhinus . [5] [6]

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References

  1. BirdLife International (2012). "Babax waddelli". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2012. Retrieved 26 November 2013.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "Giant Babax - eBird". ebird.org. Retrieved 2021-07-06.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Zhou, Shengling, et al. "Nest Characteristics and Nest Site Selection of Giant Babax in Lhasa." (2024).
  4. Dresser, Henry E. (2005). "Descriptions of three new species of birds obtained during the recent expedition to Lhasa". Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London. 1 (1): 54-55 [54 plate 4].
  5. Cibois, A.; Gelang, M.; Alström, P.; Pasquet, E.; Fjeldså, J.; Ericson, P.G.P.; Olsson, U. (2018). "Comprehensive phylogeny of the laughingthrushes and allies (Aves, Leiothrichidae) and a proposal for a revised taxonomy". Zoologica Scripta. 47 (4): 428–440. doi:10.1111/zsc.12296. S2CID   51883434.
  6. Gill, Frank; Donsker, David, eds. (2019). "Laughingthrushes and allies". World Bird List Version 9.1. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 18 January 2019.