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Rufous-breasted Bush-Robin Tarsiger hyperythrus Scientific name definitions

Nigel Collar
Version: 1.0 — Published March 4, 2020
Text last updated January 1, 2005

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Originally Appeared in

HBW Alive

Field Identification

12–13 cm; 11–16 g. Male is dark royal blue above, with blackish face (including malar), paler shining blue forehead and supercilium, shoulder and rump; fulvous-orange from chin to mid-belly and flanks, white mid-belly to undertail-coverts; small bill black, legs blackish. Female is warm olive-brown above and to malar, with bright blue tail-coverts, blue-black tail, long narrow buff throat stripe, broad buff eyering, broad ochre-brown breastband shading to orange-tinged flanks, white lower underparts. Juvenile is very like juvenile T. indicus, but with no supercilium, shorter tail.

Systematics History

Monotypic.

Subspecies

Monotypic.

Distribution

C & E Himalayas (E from C Nepal W of Annapurna Range) and SE Tibet, NW Yunnan (China); also N Myanmar, where status uncertain.

Habitat

Breeds in heavy mixed conifer forest, mainly Abies densa mixed with tree rhododendron, and in dwarf rhododendron and scattered birch (Betula) above timber-line, at 3400–3800 m in Himalayas; winters in broadleaf evergreen forest glades and edges, especially along streams and mule roads, foothills to 3500 m in Himalayas, 1300–1500 m farther E. In summer, during heavy snowfall, may seek temporary shelter in lower forest clearings and yak pastures.

Movement

Altitudinal migrant in Himalayas; apparently a short-distance migrant in China.

Diet and Foraging

Insects. Forages on ground.

Sounds and Vocal Behavior

Song reportedly a simple lisping warble, “zeew zee zwee zwee” or “te rree treyre”. Calls include low “duk” in warning, extending to “duk-duk-duk-squeak”.

Breeding

Nestlings being fed in May in Nepal. No other information.

Conservation Status

Conservation status on Birdlife LC Least Concern
Not globally threatened. Scarce in E Himalayas; rare in China. Fairly common in N Myanmar in Feb; probably breeds, but this not confirmed.
Distribution of the Rufous-breasted Bush-Robin - Range Map
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  • Year-round
  • Migration
  • Breeding
  • Non-Breeding
Distribution of the Rufous-breasted Bush-Robin

eBird and Macaulay Library

Recommended Citation

Collar, N. (2020). Rufous-breasted Bush-Robin (Tarsiger hyperythrus), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.rbbrob1.01
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