Short-tailed Parrotbill
Suthora davidiana
A tiny pingpong ball of a bird, this parrotbill flits amongst bamboo stands, usually in hilly mixed forest. Tends to be quiet and retiring but can small roving flocks often be detected by chattering twitter. Small and brownish overall, with a black throat and an orange-toned head. Short tail (unusual amongst parrotbills) gives it a bulbous-headed appearance.
Identification
The short-tailed parrotbill (Suthora davidiana) is a species of bird in the family Paradoxornithidae. It is found in China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. This genus differs from Suthora in having the tail less graduated and much shorter, not more than three-fourths the length of the wing; the bill is larger and much deeper in proportion; the wing is still more rounded, the 4th to the 7th being subequal. It contains but one species, and 3 subspecies, S. d. thompsoni ("Thompson's suthora"), and is found within India, S.d. tonkinensis found in Northeastern Laos, and S.d.davidiana found in eastern China around northern Guangdong and Zhejiang. Top and sides of the head bright cinnamon-rufous; hind neck, back and rump pale slate-grey, more or less washed with olive; wings and tail grey-brown, the quills edged with bright rufescent brown; chin and throat black; breast grey tinged with buff, more especially on the centre; flanks, abdomen and lower tail-coverts clear brownish ochraceous. Bill fleshy horny; irides hazel; legs plumbeous grey. Total length about 95 to 100 mm.; wing 50 to 52 mm.; tail 36 to 38 mm. This subspecies is found in the Southern Shan States.
Taxonomy
Genus: Suthora; Family: Paradoxornithidae; Order: Passeriformes.
- Scientific name
- Suthora davidiana
- Authority
- Slater, HH, 1897
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Paradoxornithidae
- Genus
- Suthora
Range and habitat
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
Migration pattern: Resident species.
Conservation
Population trend: declining.
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Purple-rumped Sunbird
Leptocoma zeylonica
A colorful sunbird; the male has a green metallic crown and shoulder patch, a dark brown body with purple a rump, a purple throat, lemon-yellow underparts, and whitish flanks. The female is light grayish-brown above and pale yellow below. The female can be separated from female Purple Sunbirds by their grayish-white (not yellow) throat. Often seen hopping and hovering around flowers, picking up insects, and probing flowers for nectar. The song is a twittering “tityou, tityou, trritt, tityou.”
Lemon-breasted Seedeater
Crithagra citrinipectus
A small gray-brown seedeater with a lemon-yellow rump, white tail tips, and a boldly marked face with pale patches (white to lemon-yellow) above and below the eye. The throat and upper breast are lemon-yellow in the male and buff in the female. Pairs and small flocks occupy savanna, grassland, and palm savanna, where the species is partial to Ilala Palm. It forages on the ground and in small shrubs and grass. The similar Yellow-fronted Canary is yellower, has a broader eyebrow, and lacks wingbars and the vertical dark stripe below the eye.
White-striped Warbler
Myiothlypis leucophrys
Hyperactive warbler that nervously and continually flicks its tail in the understory of forests near water. Note the broad white eyebrow fringed with gray and the narrow dark mask. It has a gray shawl, a white face, and is mostly olive-green above and gray below. The song is a loud melodic series of tinkling notes.
Start Your Bird Watching Journey
Identify a bird outdoors and keep the field guide close for your next observation.