Golden-fronted Leafbird - BirdForum Opus

Subspecies insularis
Photo © by Dr JP Menon
Manjolai, Western Ghats, South India, 15 July 2013

Alternative name: Gold-fronted Chloropsis

Chloropsis aurifrons

Identification

Ssp. frontalis
Photo © by John Keep
Arpora Woods, Goa, India, March, 2008

17-19cm (6¾-7½ in).

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.

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 cage-bird market is a serious problem locally.

Taxonomy

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

Subspecies

Photo © by robby thai
Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary, Thailand, August 2015

There are 6 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

Habitat

Ssp. aurifrons
Photo © by Rajsurin
Ramnagar, Uttarakhand, India, January 2017

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

Behaviour

Diet

A generalist feeder. Feeds on arthropods, fruits and nectars.
Forages singly, in pairs or small groups.

Breeding

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.

Movements

A resident species. Birds of the Himalayan foothills are said to do short-range vertical migrations.

Vocalisation

It can mimic voices of many common birds also.

References

Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, S. M. Billerman, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2019. The eBird/Clements Checklist of Birds of the World: v2019. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
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

Recommended Citation

BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Golden-fronted Leafbird. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 9 November 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Golden-fronted_Leafbird

External Links

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