Green Shrike-Babbler - BirdForum Opus

Photo by zhangyong
Zhangmu, Tibet, China, January 2008

Pteruthius xanthochlorus

Identification

12 - 13cm. A small Shrike-Babbler with a relatively small bill. Rather nondescript:

• Stocky, rounded head with small stubby bill
• Greenish-olive above with grey cap
• Whitish below with pale yellowish belly and vent
• Washed yellow-olive breast-sides and flanks
• Single wing-bar white to yellowish-white
• Male with darker grey cap, female with paler and more brown-tinged cap
• Pallidus shows a whitish eyering

Juveniles as females but more olive-washed above and more yellowish underparts.

ssp pallidus with whitish eyering
Photo by James Eaton
Wolong, Sichuan, China, June 2004

Distribution

Found from northeast Pakistan east along the Himalayas to India, Nepal, Bhutan and adjacent Tibet. Also in northern Burma and locally in South China east to Fujian.
Locally common in its range.

Taxonomy

Four subspecies described:

• P. x. occidentalis:

• Himalayas (Kashmir to western Nepal)

• P. x. xanthochlorus:

• Central Nepal to Sikkim, Bhutan, northern Assam, south-eastern Tibet and western Sichuan

• P. x. hybrida:

• Assam (Lushai and Naga Hills) to western Myanmar (Chin Hills)

• P. x. pallidus:

• North-eastern Myanmar to south-western Qinghai, western Sichuan, Yunnan and north-western Fujian

Habitat

Temperate broadleaf forest and conifer forest. Found at 210 - 3600m in India, at 900 - 3600m in China.

Behaviour

Feeds on beetles, ants and other insects, takes also berries and seeds.
Usually seen singly, in pairs or small groups of up to 4 birds, often in mixed flocks with other species like tits, leaf-warblers or other babblers. A strictly arboreal species with a sluggish behaviour like the Vireos.
Breeding season from April to August. The nest is a deep purse or cradle, made of fine root fibres and lichen or moss. It's suspended 1.5 - 8m above the ground like a hammock from a branch of a tree. Lays 2 - 4 eggs.
Resident species.

References

1. Clements, JF. 2008. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to December 2008. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019.
2. Del Hoyo, J, A Elliott, and D Christie, eds. 2007. Handbook of the Birds of the World. Volume 12: Picathartes to Tits and Chickadees. Barcelona: Lynx Edicions. ISBN 978-8496553422
3. Rasmussen, PC and JC Anderton. 2005. Birds of South Asia: The Ripley Guide. Barcelona: Lynx Edicions. ISBN 978-8487334672

• List of references

Recommended Citation

• BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Green Shrike-Babbler. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 29 April 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Green_Shrike-Babbler

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