Grey Bushchat - BirdForum Opus

Photo by Yeshey Dorji
Taba, Thimphu, Bhutan, August 2005

Identification

14–15 cm (5½-6 in)
Male

Female
Photo by aloktewari
YSS Ashram, Dwarahat, Uttarakhand, India

Asia: found from northern Pakistan through the Himalayan areas of northern India to southern Tibet, south-eastern China, Myanmar and northern Indochina

Two subspecies recognized^[1]:

S. f. harringtoni in southeastern China (north to Gansu and Shaanxi east to Shanghai), Myanmar, and northern Indochina
S. f. ferreus from northwestern Pakistan east to south central China (Yunnan)

harringtoni was formerly included in Jerdon's Bushchat.

Montane broad-leaved forests, and forest edges; gardens with shrubs and bushes and small trees. Observed in the Himalayas at heights around 2133 m.

Immature
Photo by aloktewari
Dalhosie Hill Station, Himachal Pradesh, India, June 2014

Their diet consists of a wide variety of insects, including spiders, grasshoppers and beetles, with the occasional addition of seeds.

Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2017. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2017, with updates to August 2017. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
Avibase
Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (retrieved February 2015)
BF Member observations

BirdForum Opus contributors. (2021) Grey Bushchat. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 29 April 2021 from https://www.birdforum.net/wiki/Grey_Bushchat