Leiothrix (bird)

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Leiothrix
Silver-eared Mesia.jpg
Silver-eared mesia
Leiothrix argentauris
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Leiothrichidae
Genus: Leiothrix
Swainson, 1832
Type species
Parus furcatus [1] = Sylvia luteo
Temminck, 1824
Species

Leiothrix is a genus of passerine birds in the family Leiothrichidae. They belong to a clade also containing at least the liocichlas, barwings, minlas and sibias. The sibias are possibly their closest living relatives.

Taxonomy

The genus Leiothrix was introduced in 1832 by the English naturalist William John Swainson with the red-billed leiothrix as the type species. [2] [3] The genus name combines the Ancient Greek leios meaning "smooth" and thrix meaning "hair". [4]


The genus contains two species: [5]

ImageScientific nameCommon NameDistribution
Leiothrix argentauris female - Mae Wong.jpg Leiothrix argentauris Silver-eared mesia South East Asia.
Leiothrix lutea -Chester Zoo, Cheshire, England-8a.jpg Leiothrix lutea Red-billed leiothrix or "Pekin nightingale",India, Bhutan, Nepal, Burma and parts of Tibet.


Their delicate colors and accomplished song make them popular cagebirds.

Related Research Articles

<i>Garrulax</i> Genus of birds

Garrulax is a genus of passerine birds in the laughingthrush family Leiothrichidae.

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

The red-billed leiothrix is a member of the family Leiothrichidae, native to southern China and the Himalayas. Adults have bright red bills and a dull yellow ring around their eyes. Their backs are dull olive green, and they have a bright yellow-orange throat with a yellow chin; females are somewhat duller than males, and juveniles have black bills. It has also been introduced in various parts of the world, with small populations of escapees having existed in Japan since the 1980s. It has become a common cagebird and amongst aviculturists it goes by various names: Pekin robin, Pekin nightingale, Japanese nightingale, and Japanese (hill) robin, the last two being misnomers as it is not native to Japan.

<i>Liocichla</i> Genus of birds

The liocichlas are a group of birds in the genus of the same name, Liocichla, from the family Leiothrichidae. They are found in Asia from India to China. They belong to a clade also containing at least the Leiothrix, the barwings, the minlas and the sibias. Among these, they are an early offshoot, or basal lineage.

<i>Selasphorus</i> Genus of birds

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<i>Turdoides</i> Genus of birds in the family Leiothrichidae

Turdoides is a genus of passerine birds in the laughingthrush family Leiothrichidae. The species are distributed across Africa and southern Asia and are typically fairly large, long-tailed birds which forage in noisy groups. The majority of species have drab brown or grey-brown plumage. Several species that were included in Turdoides in the past have been reassigned to Argya following a 2018 study that found multiple clades.

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

The spotted crocias is a passerine bird in the family Leiothrichidae. It is endemic to the island of Java in Indonesia, where it is confined to west Java.

<i>Laniellus</i> Genus of birds

Laniellus is a genus of passerine birds in the family Leiothrichidae.

The grey-crowned crocias is a passerine bird in the family Leiothrichidae. It is endemic to Vietnam, where it has a highly restricted distribution in the Da Lat Plateau. It has also been observed, and independently surveyed in 2015, in Central Vietnam on the Kontum Plateau, where it may be more abundant. Its natural habitat is intact broadleaf evergreen forest and secondary forest, generally near watercourses, between 910–1450 m above sea-level.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rufous-backed sibia</span> Species of bird

The rufous-backed sibia is a passerine bird in the family Leiothrichidae.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Long-tailed sibia</span> Species of bird

The long-tailed sibia is a species of Leiothrichidae from Southeast Asia. The species was once placed in the large family Timaliidae, but that family is sometimes split with this species being placed with the laughingthrushes in the family Leiothrichidae. The species is sometimes treated as the only species in the genus Heterophasia, with the other species being placed in the genus Malacias.

<i>Phoenicircus</i> Genus of birds

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<i>Tephrodornis</i> Genus of birds

Tephrodornis is a bird genus in the family Vangidae.

<i>Cyanoderma</i> Genus of birds

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<i>Zosterornis</i> Genus of birds

Zosterornis is a genus of passerine birds in the white-eye family Zosteropidae. The five species in the genus are endemic to the Philippines.

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

The dark-backed sibia is a bird species in the family Leiothrichidae. In former times it was included the black-headed sibia, H. desgodinsi. Together with most other sibias, it is sometimes separated in the genus Malacias. It is found in China, Myanmar and Thailand. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.

<i>Argya</i> Genus of birds in the family Leiothrichidae

Argya is a genus of passerine birds in the family Leiothrichidae. The species are distributed across Africa and southern Asia and are typically fairly large, long-tailed birds that forage in noisy groups. Members of this genus were formerly placed in the genera Turdoides and Garrulax.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Laughingthrushes</span> Family of birds

The laughingthrushes are a family, Leiothrichidae, of Old World passerine birds. They are diverse in size and coloration. These are birds of tropical areas, with the greatest variety in Southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent. The entire family used to be included in the Old World babbler family Timaliidae.

<i>Lyrurus</i> Genus of birds

Lyrurus is a genus of birds in the grouse subfamily. They are known as black grouse because the male's plumage of both species is colored black as its base colour.

<i>Pterorhinus</i> Genus of birds in the family Leiothrichidae

Pterorhinus is a genus of passerine birds in the laughingthrush family Leiothrichidae.

<i>Mixornis</i> Genus of birds

Mixornis is a genus of passerine birds in the Old World babbler family Timaliidae.

References

  1. "Leiothrichidae". aviansystematics.org. The Trust for Avian Systematics. Retrieved 2023-07-15.
  2. Swainson, William John; Richardson, J. (1831). Fauna Boreali-Americana, or, The Zoology of the Northern Parts of British America. Vol. 2: The Birds. London: J. Murray. pp.  233, 490. The title page bears the year 1831 but the volume was not published until 1832.
  3. Mayr, Ernst; Paynter, Raymond A. Jr, eds. (1964). Check-List of Birds of the World. Vol. 10. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. p. 381.
  4. Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. p. 221. ISBN   978-1-4081-2501-4.
  5. Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (January 2022). "Laughingthrushes and allies". IOC World Bird List Version 12.1. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 6 June 2022.