Gould's shortwing | |
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Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Order: | Passeriformes |
Family: | Muscicapidae |
Genus: | Heteroxenicus Sharpe, 1902 |
Species: | H. stellatus |
Binomial name | |
Heteroxenicus stellatus (Gould, 1868) | |
Synonyms | |
Brachypteryx stellatus |
Gould's shortwing (Heteroxenicus stellatus) is a small species of passerine bird in the family Muscicapidae. It is found in the Himalayas (mainly Uttarakhand, Sikkim and Bhutan), Yunnan and northern parts of Myanmar and Vietnam. It breeds in the eastern Himalayas in rocky areas above the tree-line and winters at lower altitude in wooded valleys.
Gould's shortwing is the only species in the genus Heteroxenicus. It was formerly placed in the genus Brachypteryx .
The common name commemorates the English ornithologist and bird artist John Gould (1804-1881). [2]
The first formal description of Gould's shortwing was by the English ornithologist and bird artist John Gould in 1868 from a specimen collected in Nepal. He chose the binomial name Brachypteryx stellatus. [3]
Gould's shortwing is the only species in the genus Heteroxenicus. It was formerly placed in the genus Brachypteryx and was assigned to the thrush family Turdidae. [4] The genus Heteroxenicus had been introduced by Richard Bowdler Sharpe in 1902. [5] The genus name Heteroxenicus combines the classical Greek words heteros for "different" and xenikos for "stranger". The specific epithet stellata is from the Latin word stellatus meaning "starry" or "set with stars". [6]
There are two subspecies: [4]
Gould's shortwing is 12–13 cm (4.7–5.1 in) in length with a weight of 19–23 g (0.67–0.81 oz). It is chestnut coloured above and dark grey below with small white spots or stars on its belly. It has long brown legs and a black bill. The sexes are similar. Nothing is known about the nest or the eggs. [7] [8]
The Old World flycatchers are a large family, the Muscicapidae, of small passerine birds restricted to the Old World, with the exception of several vagrants and two species, bluethroat and northern wheatear, found also in North America. These are mainly small arboreal insectivores, many of which, as the name implies, take their prey on the wing. The family is relatively large and includes 351 species which are divided into 54 genera.
The shortwings are colourful medium-sized mostly insectivorous birds in the genus Brachypteryx of the thrush family Turdidae, although some taxonomists place them in the Old World Flycatcher family Muscicapidae. They show strong sexual plumage dimorphism. All are southeast Asian species.
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