From Opus

Photo by John Keep
Arpora Woods, Goa, India, March, 2008

Alternative name: Gold-fronted Chloropsis

Chloropsis aurifrons

[edit] Identification

17-19cm.

• Orange forehead and forecrown
• Black mask and lower throat
• Violet-blue chin, upper throat and malar region
• Yellow band around lower part of bib, prominent in nominate subspecies, indistinctive or missing in some subspecies
• Turquoise-blue lesser upperwing-coverts
• Rest of plumage grass-green

Females are similar but have less blue on wing and they are smaller.
Juveniles are all green except for a yellow eyelid rim.

[edit] Distribution

From India, Nepal and Sri Lanka east to Burma, southern China, Thailand, Laos and Cambodia to Vietnam.
Common to fairly common in its range. Trapping for the cagebird market is locally a serious problem.

[edit] Taxonomy

[edit] Subspecies^[1]

• C. a. aurifrons:

• Himalayas and north-eastern India to Burma

• C. a. frontalis:

• Peninsular India

• C. a. insularis:

• South-western India (Travancore) and Sri Lanka

• C. a. pridii:

• South-western China (southern Yunnan) to southern Burma, northern Thailand and northern Laos

• C. a. inornata:

• Central and south-eastern Thailand to Cambodia and southern Vietnam

• C. a. incompta:

• South-western Thailand and southern Indochina

Sumatran Leafbird was formerly included in this species and forms a superspecies with it.

[edit] Habitat

Deciduous forest to evergreen forest, forest edge, secondary growth, tree plantations and wooded gardens.
Occurs from lowlands to ca. 1200m.

[edit] Behaviour

A generalist feeder. Feeds on arthropods, fruits and nectars.
Forages singly, in pairs or small groups.
The nest is an open cup made of fine twigs, bark fibre, grass and bamboo. It's placed 9-12m up the ground in an outer fork of a tree. Lays 2 eggs, sometimes 3.
A resident species. Birds of the Himalayan foothills are said to do short-range vertical migrations.

[edit] References

1. Clements, JF. 2011. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to August 2011. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019. Spreadsheet available at http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/downloadable-clements-checklist
2. Del Hoyo, J, A Elliot, and D Christie, eds. 2005. Handbook of the Birds of the World. Volume 10: Cuckoo-Shrikes to Thrushes. Barcelona: Lynx Edicions. ISBN 978-8487334726

• List of references

[edit] External Links