Alternative name: Himalayan Bush Robin; Himalayan Red-flanked Bush-robin
- Tarsiger rufilatus
Identification
Length 13–15 cm, weight 13-18 g.
Blue tail and reddish flanks.
Marginally larger than Red-flanked Bluetail (with some overlap), with the adult male having darker blue upperparts and whiter underparts; supercilium pale blue (not white in front of eye as in Red-flanked Bluetail).
Females are plain brown above and have a dusky breast.
Distribution
Breeds in the Himalayas from northeast Afghanistan through northern Pakistan, northwest India, Nepal to northeast India and southwest China. Winters from northeast India to Indochina.
Taxonomy
This is usually treated as a monotypic species, though birds from the west of the range (Afghanistan to western Nepal) are sometimes distinguished as subspecies T. r. pallidior.
It was formerly treated as a subspecies of Red-flanked Bluetail.
Formerly sometimes included in either the genera Erithacus or Luscinia2.
Habitat
High altitude coniferous forests, from 3,000-4,400 m; lower in winter.
Behaviour
Often seen flicking tail and wings.
Diet
Their diet consists mostly of insects, including beetles. They also eat berries and seeds.
Breeding
It nests near the ground, laying 3-5 eggs which are incubated by the female.
Movements
A short distance migrant or near-resident species; western populations migrate southeast to north-eastern India (Assam) and northern Myanmar, and all move to lower levels in winter.
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2014. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: Version 6.9., with updates to August 2014. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- Dickinson, Edward C. (ed.). 2003. The Howard and Moore Complete Checklist of the Birds of the World. 3rd ed. Princeton: Princeton University Press. ISBN 9780691117010
- Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (retrieved January 2015)
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Himalayan Bluetail. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 27 April 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Himalayan_Bluetail
