Japanese robin | |
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Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Order: | Passeriformes |
Family: | Muscicapidae |
Genus: | Larvivora |
Species: | L. akahige |
Binomial name | |
Larvivora akahige (Temminck, 1835) | |
Synonyms | |
Erithacus akahige |
The Japanese robin (Larvivora akahige) is a small passerine bird in the family Muscicapidae. This species was formerly named Erithacus akahige, or Komadori. Its range extends from the south of the Kuril and Sakhalin Islands throughout Japan.
The name "Japanese robin" is also sometimes used for the red-billed leiothrix (Leiothrix lutea). The specific name akahige is, somewhat confusingly, the common name of its relative Larvivora komadori in Japanese. [ citation needed ]
The Japanese robin, together with the Ryukyu robin and the European robin, was previously placed in the genus Erithacus . A 2006 molecular phylogenetic study found that the two east Asian species were more similar to the Siberian blue robin, at the time in Luscinia , than to the European robin. [2] In 2010 a large study confirmed this result and also found that Luscinia was non-monophyletic. The genus Larvivora was therefore resurrected to accommodate a clade containing the Japanese robin, the Ryukyu robin, the Siberian blue robin and several other species that had previously been placed in Luscinia. [3] [4]
The Japanese robin is about 14-15 centimeters in size. [5] This bird species is mainly gray and bright orange. [6] The male Japanese robin is olive brown from the top of the head to rump, with an orange face and neck, and a grey breast and underside. Their tail is reddish-brown, their legs are pinkish brown, and they have a black bill. The female Japanese robin looks very similar to the male, but their orange and brown color characteristics are much duller and less extensive. The juvenile Japanese robin also looks very similar to the adult, but has dark spotting on the breast, pale rufous feathers from crown to mantle, and a rufus buff. [7]
The Japanese robin lives in natural habitats such as islands, lakes, mountains, and temperate forests. These habitats are abundant with species of small insects and plants that the Japanese robin eats. More specifically, this species lives in damp, dense, and shady areas such as undergrowth along valleys and streams. Many Japanese robins are located in broadleaf and deciduous forests throughout the Japanese islands of Honshu, Shikoku, Hokkaido and the Sakhalin Islands, and Yakushima, and during the winters in Southeast Asia. [8]
The population of Japanese robins on the Izu Islands in southeastern Japan are so geographically remote that they are usually considered a distinguishable subspecies, L. akahige tanensis, from the mainland populations, L. akahige akahige, based on phenotypic characteristics, such as feather colouration. [9] Additionally, while the mainland Japanese robin usually inhabits deciduous and mixed coniferous forests in the summer, the Izu Islands subspecies migrates to lowland, warm-temperature forests instead. [9] Due to the distance between the two populations, gene flow between the two subspecies is rare and inbreeding within the Izu Islands populations is relatively common. [9]
The Japanese robin is an abundant species of robin from the islands of Japan. The Japanese robin, along with the Ryukyu robin, can be traced back to 1835 when they were placed into one of the Coenraad Jacob Temminck's works under the name Erithacus akahige. After the 2006 molecular phylogenetic study, the species was placed into a clade under Larvivora, meaning "caterpillar eater," giving it half of its current scientific name. [10]
The Japanese robin, as hinted by its scientific name meaning "caterpillar eater," is known for feeding on beetles, insects, milled worms, small crickets, fruits, and other small insects. Given their diet, they are considered omnivorous.
The Japanese robin reproduces throughout May and June in central Japan. [11] Their nest typically consists of moss, twigs, dry leaves, ferns, and roots. When the female is ready, she lays about 3-5 eggs of greenish color, one egg per day, and incubates them for roughly 2 weeks. Once born, the young chicks are nurtured for a month, or 31 days, before they leave the nest and become independent. The robin does not mate for life and only finds a partner during the spring mating season.
The Japanese robin can be considered a small songbird; however, it has a single note that is extremely loud at first, but tones down throughout the song. The robin's call is similar to a telephone ring: well-spaced and simple phrases, along with short chattering. Females tend to sing during nest building and during the incubation period. Males will sing, but their frequency will drastically reduce once eggs have been laid. [12]
The Ryukyu robin is a bird endemic to the Ryūkyū Islands, of Japan. The Okinawa robin previously was considered a subspecies.
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 Siberian blue robin is a small passerine bird that was formerly classified as a member of the thrush family, Turdidae, but is now more generally considered to belong to the Old World flycatcher family, Muscicapidae. It and similar small European species are often called chats. Recent research suggests that this species and some other East Asian members of Luscinia should be classified in a new genus, together with the Japanese and Ryūkyū robins. The genus name Larvivora comes from the Neo-Latin larva meaning caterpillar and -vorus meaning eating, and cyane is Latin for "dark-blue".
The Indian blue robin is a small bird found in the Indian Subcontinent. Formerly considered a thrush, it is now considered one of the Old World flycatchers in the family Muscicapidae. It was earlier also called the Indian blue chat. It is migratory, breeding in the forests along the Himalayas of Nepal, India, Myanmar and Bangladesh. They winter in the hill forests of the Western Ghats of India and in Sri Lanka.
The rufous-tailed robin is a small passerine bird. Its breeding range extends from southern Siberia and the Sea of Okhotsk to southern China and southeastern Asia.
Erithacus is a genus of passerine bird that contains a single extant species, the European robin. The Japanese robin and Ryukyu robin were also placed in this genus, but were moved to the genus Larvivora in 2006.
The Siberian grouse, also known as Siberian spruce grouse, Amur grouse, or Asian spruce grouse, is a short, rotund forest-dwelling grouse. A sedentary, non-migratory bird, it is the only member of the genus Falcipennis. The spruce grouse of North America, which physically looks similar, is now placed in the monotypic genus Canachites.
The blue-fronted fig parrot is a species of parrot in the family Psittaculidae. It is found in Salawati and the Bird's Head Peninsula in New Guinea. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.
The rufous-headed robin is a species of passerine bird in the family Muscicapidae. It is found in central China. Its natural habitats are temperate forests and temperate shrubland. This poorly known species is thought to be threatened by habitat loss.
The Ryukyu minivet is a species of bird in the family Campephagidae. It is endemic to Japan. The species was previously thought to be a subspecies of the ashy minivet. Its specific name is named for the Japanese naturalist Seiichi Tegima.
The white-browed bush robin is a species of bird in the family Muscicapidae. It is found from the Himalayas to south-central China and Taiwan. Its natural habitat is Rhododendron and conifer forests.
The Japanese leaf warbler is a leaf warbler. The species was first described by Robert Swinhoe in 1863. It was formerly included in the "Old World warbler" assemblage. It is closely related to the Arctic warbler and the Kamchatka leaf warbler, to which it was formerly considered conspecific.
The Herald petrel is a species of seabird and a member of the gadfly petrels. Its range includes the south Pacific Ocean and Indian Ocean.
The buffy helmetcrest is a Vulnerable species of hummingbird in the "coquettes", tribe Lesbiini of subfamily Lesbiinae. It is endemic to Colombia.
Larvivora is a genus of small passerine birds belonging to the Old World flycatcher family Muscicapidae that occur in central and eastern Asia.
Townsend's storm petrel is a species of seabird in the family Hydrobatidae. It breeds in the summer on rocks and islets of Guadalupe Island off the western coast of Mexico. It ranges in the Eastern Pacific Ocean north to southern California in the United States and south to 10°N latitude. It used to be considered a subspecies of the Leach's storm petrel. It was formerly defined in the genus Oceanodroma before that genus was synonymized with Hydrobates.
The Okinawa robin is a passerine bird endemic to Okinawa of Japan. It previously was considered a subspecies of the Ryukyu robin.
The Comoros blue vanga or Comoro blue vanga is a bird species in the family Vangidae. It is found in the Comoros, where its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forest and subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest.
The Izu robin is a small passerine bird in the Old World flycatcher family Muscicapidae that is endemic to the Izu Islands of Japan.