Giant babax

Giant babax
Scientific classification Edit this classification
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]

References

  1. ^ BirdLife International (2012). "Babax waddelli". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2012. Retrieved 26 November 2013.
  2. ^ a b c d e "Giant Babax - eBird". ebird.org. Retrieved 2021-07-06.
  3. ^ a b c d e f 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.
  • Collar, N. J. & Robson C. 2007. Family Timaliidae (Babblers) pp. 70 – 291 in; del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A. & Christie, D.A. eds. Handbook of the Birds of the World, Vol. 12. Picathartes to Tits and Chickadees. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona.


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