From Opus

Photo by wengchun
Putrajaya Wetland, Malaysia, August 2004

Orthotomus sutorius

[edit] Identification

12cm
Olive above, cream buff below, rufous thighs, long bill, legs and tail
Male: rufous centre of crown, white sides of head, black neck patches, white underparts
Female: rufous forehead

[edit] Distribution

Asia: found in China, Tibet, Nepal, Pakistan, India, Eastern and Western Himalayas, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Hong Kong
Southeast Asia: Indochina, Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Greater Sundas, Sumatra, Java

[edit] Taxonomy

Juvenile
Photo by Sumit
Kolkata City, India, June 2003

[edit] Subspecies

There are 9 subspecies^[1]:

• O. s. guzuratus: Pakistan and peninsula India
• O. s. patia: Terai of Nepal to north-eastern India and Myanmar
• O. s. luteus: North-eastern India (north-eastern Assam) to northern Myanmar
• O. s. sutorius: Plains and foothills of Sri Lanka
• O. s. fernandonis: Central highlands of Sri Lanka
• O. s. inexpectatus: Eastern Myanmar, Laos, Yunnan and northern Thailand
• O. s. longicauda: South-eastern China, Hainan and north-eastern Indochina
• O. s. maculicollis: South-eastern Myanmar to southern Malay Peninsula and southern Indochina
• O. s. edela: Java

[edit] Habitat

Scrub, urban gardens, parkland, open woodland, farmland and plantations.

[edit] Behaviour

A very restless bird

[edit] Breeding

The nest is built in a shrub and made from a large leaf; the edges are pierced and stitched together with spider's web or plant fibre. The cup is lined with grass. The clutch consists of 3–5 pale blue eggs with brown speckles. The eggs are incubated by the female. Both sexes care for the young which fledge after about 24 days.

[edit] Diet

The diet includes insects, larvae, berries, fruits, nectar and seeds.

[edit] Vocalisation

Call: loud chwee-o; chi-up; chee-rup.

[edit] References

1. Clements, JF. 2010. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to December 2010. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019. Spreadsheet available at http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/Clements%206.5.xls/view
2. Avibase
3. Wikipedia
4. naturia.per.sg
5. BF Member observations

• List of references

[edit] External Links