Whistling thrush | |
---|---|
Taiwan whistling thrush (Myophonus insularis) | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Order: | Passeriformes |
Family: | Muscicapidae |
Subfamily: | Saxicolinae |
Genus: | Myophonus Temminck, 1822 |
Type species | |
Myophonus metallicus [1] Temminck, 1822 | |
Species | |
See text |
The whistling thrushes comprise a genus Myophonus of the Old World flycatcher family Muscicapidae.
They are all medium-sized mostly insectivorous or omnivorous birds. They are all brightly coloured species found in India and southeast Asia. The male is usually blue, and the females are either similar to the male or brown. The brighter blue patches found on the shoulders and sometimes the head, of whistling thrushes, uniquely for a passerine, reflect strongly in the ultraviolet. [2]
The genus Myophonus was introduced in 1822 by the Dutch zoologist Coenraad Jacob Temminck to accommodate a single species, Myophonus metallicus Temminck. This is a junior synonym of Turdus flavirostris Horsfield, a subspecies of the blue whistling thrush which is therefore the type species. [3] [4] There has been confusion as to the correct spelling of the genus name. Temminck's work was published in 102 parts (livraisons) and Plate 170 with the associated text was included in Livraison 29 which was issued in December 1822. However, the assembled volumes included pages inserted before Plate 170 with the genus name spelled as Myiopheneus. These inserted pages cannot have been issued earlier than 1832. [5] [6] The genus name Myophonus is from the Ancient Greek muia meaning "fly" and phoneus meaning "slayer". [7]
As the English name suggests, the genus was at one time placed in the thrush family Turdidae but in 2010 two separate molecular phylogenetic studies found that members of the genus were more closely related to species in the Old World flycatcher family Muscicapidae. [8] [9]
The genus includes nine species several of which have ranges that are restricted to islands or peninsulas: [10]
Image | Scientific name | Common Name | Distribution |
---|---|---|---|
Sri Lanka whistling thrush | Myophonus blighi | found on Sri Lanka | |
Shiny whistling thrush | Myophonus melanurus | Sumatra | |
Javan whistling thrush | Myophonus glaucinus | Java | |
Bornean whistling thrush | Myophonus borneensis | Borneo | |
Brown-winged whistling thrush | Myophonus castaneus | Sumatra | |
Malayan whistling thrush | Myophonus robinsoni | peninsular Malaysia | |
Malabar whistling thrush | Myophonus horsfieldii | peninsular India | |
Taiwan whistling thrush or Taiwan whistling-thrush | Myophonus insularis | Taiwan | |
Blue whistling thrush | Myophonus caeruleus | from Central Asia east to China and south to the Sundas | |
Javan, Bornean and brown-winged were formerly lumped as the Sunda whistling thrush, but were split in 2004. [11]
Whistling thrushes are mostly seen in hilly areas except during winter when they may descend to streams near the plains. They specialize in feeding on snails and their strong hooked bills are used to deal with them. They may choose a particular rock on which they crack the shells. [12]
The nests are usually in crevices of rocks and boulders close to water. The cup nests have moss and twigs and is lined with roots and leaves. The eggs are usually three and sometimes four, elongate with a gray ground colour and marked with speckles. [12]
The thrushes are a passerine bird family, Turdidae, with a worldwide distribution. The family was once much larger before biologists reclassified the former subfamily Saxicolinae, which includes the chats and European robins, as Old World flycatchers. Thrushes are small to medium-sized ground living birds that feed on insects, other invertebrates and fruit. Some unrelated species around the world have been named after thrushes due to their similarity to birds in this family.
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 includes 352 species and is divided into 53 genera.
The rock thrushes, Monticola, are a genus of chats, medium-sized mostly insectivorous or omnivorous songbirds. All are Old World birds, and most are associated with mountainous regions.
Coenraad Jacob Temminck was a Dutch aristocrat, zoologist and museum director.
The Malabar whistling thrush is a whistling thrush in the family Muscicapidae. The bird has been called whistling schoolboy for the whistling calls that they make at dawn that have a very human quality. The species is a resident in the Western Ghats and associated hills of peninsular India including central India and parts of the Eastern Ghats.
The blackstart is a chat found in desert regions in North Africa, the Middle East and the Arabian Peninsula. It is resident throughout its range.
Brachypteryx is a genus of passerine birds in the family Muscicapidae containing ten species known as shortwings, that occurs in southeast Asia.
The mountain wheatear or mountain chat is a small insectivorous passerine bird that is endemic to southwestern Africa.
The diademed tanager is a species of Neotropical bird in the tanager family Thraupidae. It is the only member of the genus Stephanophorus. It is purple-blue with a white crown characterised by a small red patch, and it is found mostly in open areas in southern Brazil, northeast Argentina, and Uruguay.
Emberizoides is a small genus of finch-like tanagers found in grassy areas in Central and South America.
The western bearded greenbul is a species of songbird in the bulbul family, Pycnonotidae. It is found in West Africa. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests and subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.
Ixos is a genus of passerine birds in the bulbul family, Pycnonotidae.
The green cochoa is a bird species that was variously placed with the thrushes of family Turdidae or the related Muscicapidae. It is considered closer to the former.
The black-masked finch is a species of South American bird in the tanager family Thraupidae. It is the only member of the genus Coryphaspiza. It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, and Peru. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist shrubland, subtropical or tropical dry lowland grassland, and subtropical or tropical seasonally wet or flooded lowland grassland. It is threatened by habitat loss.
The black-winged flycatcher-shrike is a species of bird in the flycatcher-shrike genus, Hemipus. It is usually placed in the Vangidae. It is found in the Malay Peninsula and the Greater Sunda Islands. Its natural habitats are lowland forests and sometimes swamps and mangroves. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has assessed it as being of least concern.
The blue whistling thrush is a bird in the Old World flycatchers family Muscicapidae that is found in the mountains of Central Asia, South Asia, China and Southeast Asia. It is known for its loud human-like whistling song at dawn and dusk. The widely distributed populations show variations in size and plumage with several of them considered as subspecies. Like others in the genus, they feed on the ground, often along streams and in damp places foraging for snails, crabs, fruits and insects.
Phoenicurus is a genus of passerine birds in the Old World flycatcher family Muscicapidae, native to Europe, Asia and Africa. They are named redstarts from their orange-red tails. They are small insectivores, the males mostly brightly coloured in various combinations of red, blue, white, and black, the females light brown with a red tail. A molecular phylogenetic study published in 2010 led to a reorganization of the Old World flycatchers family in which the two species in Rhyacornis and the single species in Chaimarrornis were merged into Phoenicurus.
The crescent-chested babbler is a babbler species in the family Timaliidae and is native to the Indonesian islands of Java and Bali. It inhabits subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest, montane forest and shrubland. It is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List.
The orange-backed woodpecker is a bird in the woodpecker family Picidae, found in southern Thailand, Malaya, Sarawak and Sabah in Malaysia, Brunei, Sumatra, and Java. It is monotypic in the genus Reinwardtipicus.
Chamaetylas is a genus of small, mainly insectivorous birds in the Old World flycatcher family Muscicapidae that are native to sub-Saharan Africa.