White-browed bush robin

White-browed bush robin
In Phulchoki, Nepal
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Muscicapidae
Genus:	Tarsiger
Species:	T. indicus
Binomial name
Tarsiger indicus (Vieillot, 1817)

The white-browed bush robin (Tarsiger indicus) is a species of passerine bird in the Old World flycatcher family Muscicapidae that is found from the Himalayas to south-central China and north Vietnam. Its natural habitat is Rhododendron and conifer forests.[2] The Taiwan bush robin was formerly regarded as a subspecies.

Taxonomy

The white-browed bush robin was formally described in 1817 by the French ornithologist Louis Vieillot under the binomial name Sylvia indica. Vieillot based his account on "Le rossignol de muraille des Indes" that had been described by Pierre Sonnerat in his "Voyage aux Indes orientales et à la Chine".[3][4] The type locality was restricted to Darjeeling by E. C. Stuart Baker in 1921.[5][6] The white-browed bush is now one of eight bush robins placed in the genus Tarsiger that was introduced by Brian Hodgson in 1845.[7]

Two subspecies are recognised:[7]

• T. i. indicus (Vieillot, 1817) – central, east Himalayas
• T. i. yunnanensis Rothschild, 1922 – north Myanmar, central south China and north Vietnam

The Taiwan bush robin (Tarsiger formosanus) was formerly regarded as a subspecies but is now considered as a separate species based both on a phylogenetic study published in 2022 as well as the differences in plumage and vocalizations.[8][7]

Description

White-browed bush robins display delayed plumage maturation—after becoming capable of breeding, first-year males (subadults) retain their juvenile plumage (similar to that of adult females) to avoid direct competition with older males.[9]

Behaviour

They perform altitudinal migration.[9] They are insectivores.[10]

References

1. BirdLife International (2016). "Tarsiger indicus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2016: e.T22709743A94221641. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22709743A94221641.en. Retrieved 13 November 2021.
2. Collar, Nigel (2020). "White-browed Bush-Robin (Tarsiger indicus)". In Del Hoyo, Josep; Elliott, Andrew; Sargatal, Jordi; Christie, David; De Juana, Eduardo (eds.). Birds of the World. doi:10.2173/bow.wbbrob1.01. S2CID 216294797.
3. Vieillot, Louis Pierre (1817). Nouveau dictionnaire d'histoire naturelle, appliquée aux arts, à l'agriculture, à l'économie rurale et domestique, à la médecine, etc (in French). Vol. 11 (Nouvelle édition ed.). Paris: Deterville. p. 267.
4. Sonnerat, Pierre (1782). Voyage aux Indes orientales et à la Chine, fait par ordre du Roi, depuis 1774 jusqu'en 1782 (in French). Vol. 2. Paris: Chez l'Auteur. p. 208.
5. Baker, E.C. Stuart (1921). "Hand-list of the "Birds of India" Part III". Journal Bombay Natural History Society. 27: 692-744 [714].
6. Mayr, Ernst; Paynter, Raymond A. Jr, eds. (1964). Check-List of Birds of the World. Vol. 10. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. p. 49.
7. Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (August 2024). "Chats, Old World flycatchers". IOC World Bird List Version 14.2. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 25 November 2024.
8. Wei, C.; Sangster, G.; Olsson, U.; Rasmussen, P.C.; Svensson, L.; Yao, C.-T.; Carey, G.J.; Leader, P.J.; Zhang, R.; Chen, G.; Song, G.; Lei, F.; Wilcove, D.S.; Alström, P.; Liu, Y. (2022). "Cryptic species in a colorful genus: Integrative taxonomy of the bush robins (Aves, Muscicapidae, Tarsiger) suggests two overlooked species". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 175: 107580. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2022.107580.
9. DuBay, Shane G.; Wu, Yongjie; Scott, Graham R.; Qu, Yanhua; Liu, Qiao; Smith, Joel H.; Xin, Chao; Hart Reeve, Andrew; Juncheng, Chen; Meyer, Dylan; Wang, Jing; Johnson, Jacob; Cheviron, Zachary A.; Lei, Fumin; Bates, John (2020-03-26). "Life history predicts flight muscle phenotype and function in birds". Journal of Animal Ecology. 89 (5): 1262–1276. doi:10.1111/1365-2656.13190. hdl:2027.42/155496. ISSN 0021-8790.
10. Neupane, Juna, Laxman Khanal, and Mukesh Kumar Chalise. "Avian diversity in Kaligandaki River basin, Annapurna conservation area, Nepal." International Journal of Ecology and Environmental Sciences 46.2 (2020): 99-110.