David's Fulvetta - BirdForum Opus

Alcippe davidi

Identification

A small (12.5 - 14cm), soft-coloured and nondescript Fulvetta:

• Brown-grey head, greyer malar area
• Virtually invisible lateral crownstripe, more pronounced (but still very faint) in schaefferi
• Upperparts warm brown, underparts buff, whitish belly centre
• White eye-ring with grey ear coverts
• Iris red
• Bill grey
• Feet pinkish

Distribution

Found in China and northern Vietnam.
Common to abundant in parts of its range.¹

Taxonomy

Two subspecies recognized:

• A. d. davidi in EC China
• A. d. schaefferi in S China (Yunnan to Guizhou and Guangxi) and N Vietnam

Formerly considered conspecific with Grey-cheeked Fulvetta.

Habitat

Broadleaf evergreen forest, secondary forest, bamboo and scrub. Found from 200m to 3050 in China.

Behaviour

Feeds on small insects, seeds and berries. Often in noisy groups, sometimes in mixed flocks together with other species. Often mobs raptors and owls.
Breeding season from March to July in China. The nest is a compact strong cup made of bark, leaf skeletons, moss and spider web. It's placed in a low bush, some 0.2m to 2m above the ground. Lays 2 - 4 eggs. Multibrooded.
Resident, some movement in winter possible.

References

1. Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, B.L. Sullivan, C. L. Wood, and D. Roberson. 2013. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: Version 6.8., with updates to August 2013. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
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

• List of references

Recommended Citation

• BirdForum Opus contributors. (2025) David's Fulvetta. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 7 May 2025 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/David%27s_Fulvetta

External Links

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