White-browed bush robin explained

The white-browed bush robin (Tarsiger indicus) is a species of bird in the family Muscicapidae.It is found from the Himalayas to south-central China and Taiwan.^[1] Its natural habitat is Rhododendron and conifer forests.^[2]

The subspecies formosanus, distributed in Taiwan, was described by Ernst Hartert in 1910. It is now proposed to be a full species, the Taiwan bush robin (T. formosanus), in a molecular phylogenetic study published in 2022. It is distinctive in genetics, songs and morphology.^[3] In 2024, the IOC World Bird List formally split the Taiwan Bush Robin from the White-Browed Bush Robin^[4]

White-browed bush robins display delayed plumage maturation—after becoming capable of breeding, first-year males (subadults) retain their juvenile plumage (similar to that of adult females) to avoid direct competition with older males.^[5]

They perform altitudinal migration.

They are insectivores.^[6]

Notes and References

1. Web site: Chats, Old World flycatchers « IOC World Bird List. www.worldbirdnames.org. en-US. 2017-07-16.
2. Book: http://www.hbw.com/species/white-browed-bush-robin-tarsiger-indicus. 10.2173/bow.wbbrob1.01. White-browed Bush-Robin (Tarsiger indicus). Birds of the World. 2020. Collar. Nigel. 216294797. Josep. Del Hoyo. Andrew. Elliott. Jordi. Sargatal. David. Christie. Eduardo. De Juana.
3. Wei . C. . Sangster . G. . Olsson . U. . Rasmussen . P.C. . Svensson . L. . Yao . C.-T. . Carey . G.J. . Leader . P.J. . Zhang . R. . Chen . G. . Song . G. . Lei . F. . Wilcove . D.S. . Alström . P. . Liu . Y. . 2022 . Cryptic species in a colorful genus: Integrative taxonomy of the bush robins (Aves, Muscicapidae, Tarsiger) suggests two overlooked species . Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution . 175 . 107580 . 10.1016/j.ympev.2022.107580. free . Text was copied from this source, which is available under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
4. Web site: IOC World Bird List Diary « IOC World Bird List. www.worldbirdnames.org. en-US. 2024-03-02.
5. DuBay . Shane G. . Wu . Yongjie . Scott . Graham R. . Qu . Yanhua . Liu . Qiao . Smith . Joel H. . Xin . Chao . Hart Reeve . Andrew . Juncheng . Chen . Meyer . Dylan . Wang . Jing . Johnson . Jacob . Cheviron . Zachary A. . Lei . Fumin . Bates . John . 2020-03-26 . Life history predicts flight muscle phenotype and function in birds . Journal of Animal Ecology . 89 . 5 . 1262–1276 . 10.1111/1365-2656.13190 . 0021-8790. 2027.42/155496 . free .
6. Neupane, Juna, Laxman Khanal, and Mukesh Kumar Chalise. "Avian diversity in Kaligandaki River basin, Annapurna conservation area, Nepal." International Journal of Ecology and Environmental Sciences 46.2 (2020): 99-110.