Vinous-throated Parrotbill
Suthora webbiana
Round-headed and long-tailed, this endearing social bird is a common and familiar inhabitant of forests, gardens, reedbeds, and scrubby farmland throughout its range. Adults are warm orange-brown overall, darkest in wings and tail, with bright rufous patches in the wings. Confiding, allowing close approach, but tends to stay in dense vegetation and is often more easily detected by vocalizations: a loud buzzy chatter or a few introductory notes followed by a high, thin “pee-ee-ee.”
Identification
The vinous-throated parrotbill is a relatively small and long-tailed parrotbill. It measures between 11 and 12.5 cm (4.3–4.9 in) in length. The weight varies slightly by sex, with males weighing between 8.5 to 11 g (0.30–0.39 oz) and the females weighing 7 to 12 g (0.25–0.42 oz)[verification needed]. The tail is graduated and like other parrotbills the bill is short and has the nostrils concealed by feather bristles. The plumage is similar for both sexes, which in the nominate is warm brown on the upperparts, dark brown on the wings (tinged with chestnut on the flight feathers). The upper breast and throat are pinkish-cream with brown streaks on the throat. The flanks are similar to the upperparts but slightly buffy, and the belly is cream-buff merging into the breast. The crown and forehead are rufescent brown, with a pale grey iris and the bill is either slate grey or brown with a paler or yellow tip.
Taxonomy
The vinous-throated parrotbill was described in 1852 by John Gould and placed in the genus Suthora, where it sat with other small browner parrotbills. Later parrotbills were merged into two genera, Conostoma and Paradoxornis; with this species being placed in Paradoxornis. Recent DNA studies have shown that the genus Paradoxornis is paraphyletic, and that it should be split. It is suggested that the vinous-throated parrotbill should be placed in the genus Sinosuthora. The vinous-throated parrotbill is very closely related to the ashy-throated parrotbill, and hybrids have been reported between the two species in Vietnam and China, as well as in Italy where both species have become established. It is now placed in its original genus, the Suthora in International Ornithologists' Union bird list 13.2.<p>The specific name webbiana commemorates the English botanist Philip Barker Webb. The species is sometimes referred to as Webb's parrotbill.
- Scientific name
- Suthora webbiana
- Authority
- Gould, 1852
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Paradoxornithidae
- Genus
- Suthora
Range and habitat
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
Like other parrotbills and indeed related babblers, the vinous-throated parrotbill is a highly social species, usually encountered in groups. These flocks vary in size through the year, being at their smallest during the breeding season and increasing to as many as 140 individual birds in the winter. The members of winter flocks in Taiwan were described by a study as having four categories of member: core members, which never left the flock; regular members, which generally stayed in the flock but visited or briefly joined other flocks; floaters, which moved around between flocks; and peripheral members, which were only seen for less than two months and were assumed to be visitors from other areas. The ranges of large winter flocks can overlap with that of other flocks and flocks passing close together retain their cohesion.
Conservation
- Population trend
- stable
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
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Cardinal Quelea
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Brown hornbill with a white belly and a yellow-and-orange bill. The white outer tail feathers and wing patches are conspicuous in flight. Found in arid savanna. Usually solitary or in pairs; sometimes in small flocks. Call is a series of clucking notes that accelerates and becomes louder. Fairly similar to Bradfield’s Hornbill, but has white in the wings, much more white in the tail, and a yellow base to the bill.
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