White-browed bush robin

The white-browed bush robin (Tarsiger indicus) is a species of bird in the family Muscicapidae. It is found from the Himalayas to south-central China and Taiwan.^[2] Its natural habitat is Rhododendron and conifer forests.^[3]

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 subspecies formosanus, distributed in Taiwan, was described by Ernst Hartert in 1910. It is now proposed to be a full species, the Taiwan bush robin (T. formosanus), in a molecular phylogenetic study published in 2022. It is distinctive in genetics, songs and morphology.^[4] In 2024, the IOC World Bird List formally split the Taiwan Bush Robin from the White-Browed Bush Robin^[5]

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.^[6]

They perform altitudinal migration.^[6]

They are insectivores.^[7]

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. "Chats, Old World flycatchers « IOC World Bird List". www.worldbirdnames.org. Retrieved 2017-07-16.
3. 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.
4. 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. Text was copied from this source, which is available under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
5. "IOC World Bird List Diary « IOC World Bird List". www.worldbirdnames.org. Retrieved 2024-03-02.
6. 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.
7. 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.