Qilian bluetail

The Qilian bluetail (Tarsiger albocoeruleus) is a small passerine bird of Old World flycatcher, Muscicapidae. It is distributed in north-central China, was described by Wilhelm Meise as a subspecies of the red-flanked bluetail in 1937.^[1] The subspecies was previously considered invalid, until recognized by Hadoram Shirihai and Lars Svensson in 2018,^[2] and it was proposed to be a full species in a molecular phylogenetic study published in 2022.^[3] It is distinctive in genetics and vocalisation, but only marginally different in morphology. The males have bluer fore-supercilium, and less white than in red-flanked bluetail.^[3]

Qilian bluetail
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Muscicapidae
Genus:	Tarsiger
Species:	T. albocoeruleus
Binomial name
Tarsiger albocoeruleus Meise, 1937

References

1. Meise, W. (1937). Stresemann, E. (ed.). "Aves Beickianae Beiträge zur Ornithologie von Nordwest-Kansu nach den Forschungen von Walter Beick in den Jahren 1926–1933". J. Ornithol. (3): 550–551.
2. Shirihai, Hadoram; Svensson, Lars (2018-08-27). Handbook of Western Palearctic Birds, Volume 1: Passerines: Larks to Warblers. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4729-3758-2.
3. 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. Bibcode:2022MolPE.17507580W. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2022.107580. PMID 35810968. Text was copied from this source, which is available under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.