Himalayan Shortwing Brachypteryx cruralis Scientific name definitions

13 cm; 20–23 g (two males). Male has striking white supercilium and blackish lores; otherwise almost uniformly dark blue above and below, belly a shade greyer; iris dark brown; bill and legs blackish. Female has rufous forehead, lores and eyering, and chin; rest of head and upperparts dark olive-brown, wings and tail more rufescent, and paler, more grey-brown below, palest on throat, rufous-buff on vent. Juvenile is dark brownish, with mottled crown, rusty uppertail-coverts, tail and vent, pale streaks on throat and breast.

Hitherto treated as conspecific with B. montana (and with the other six species now separated from this “parent”), but differs from morphologically and geographically closest B. sinensis in its much darker underparts in male (2); strong rufous lores and frons in female (2); only vaguely paler brown belly than rest of underparts vs clear whitish central belly (2); song of male rather longer, more warbled (at least 1) (1 Boesman, P. (2016). Notes on the vocalizations of White-browed Shortwing (Brachypteryx montana). HBW Alive Ornithological Note 322. In: Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. Close ). Seemingly no evidence of intergradation with B. sinensis, but situation where these two approach or meet merits study. Monotypic.

C & E Himalayas from Uttarakhand (2 Arora, G., Sharma, P., Inskipp, T. and Elsen, P.R. (2017). Records of White-browed Shortwing Brachypteryx montana from Uttarakhand, and a review of its status in the Himalaya west of Nepal. Indian Birds. 13(1): 18–21. Close ) and C Nepal E to NE India, Myanmar, S & SC China (Sichuan S to SE Tibet and NW, W & SE Yunnan), NW Thailand, Laos and Vietnam (S to S Annam); no documented recent records in Himachal Pradesh (3 Clement, P., and C. Rose (2015). Robins and Chats. Christopher Helm, London, United Kingdom. Close ).

Song a complex squeaky verse of up to three thin indrawn flat “hweez” notes followed by varied warble of short dry trills and harsh notes, all interspersed with vibrato whistles; often on descending scale, sometimes at even pitch, the whole generally rather short (sometimes protracted). Call a sharp “tak”.

Season May–Jul. Nest a relatively large but well-concealed dome of moss, bamboo leaves, grasses, epiphyte roots and ferns, lined with rootlets and fine fibres, with circular side entrance, attached to creepers just above ground in small bush or tree, sometimes in end of fallen rotten trunk; however, structure appears to vary, as in Nepal one nest was a large woven orb of bamboo leaves and moss containing a lined cup and lateral entrance; two had only a top entrance and were suspended in understorey vegetation, and a fourth was recessed in the mossy base of a shrub (4 Cox, J.H. (2006). Breeding behaviour and nesting ecology of White-browed Shortwing Brachypteryx montana in Nepal. Forktail. 22: 1–6. Close ). Clutch 3–4 eggs, fairly glossy white; no information on incubation and nestling periods. Brood-parasitized by Lesser Cuckoo (Cuculus poliocephalus).

Not globally threatened (Least Concern). Scarce in Himalayas in Himachal Pradesh (around the Great Himalayan National Park), Uttarakhand (Corbett National Park and Askot Wildlife Sanctuary) and Nepal, commoner E from Bhutan. Fairly common in Myanmar; uncommon to locally common in Thailand; locally common in Indochina. Thought to be undergoing a slow decline as a result of habitat loss.