Golden-breasted Fulvetta Lioparus chrysotis Scientific name definitions

10–11.5 cm; 5–10 g. Colorful fulvetta, blackish-gray above with silvery ear-coverts and orange-yellow underparts, wing flashes and outer tail. Male nominate subspecies has lores, forehead, crown and supercilium blackish, with paler bluish-gray in vague line (variable in intensity) down center; nape bluish-gray, but more blackish at side; upperparts bluish-gray, more olive-tinged on back, rump and uppertail-coverts, latter more yellow-olive and tipped paler; uppertail blackish, each feather having orange-yellow outer fringe on basal two-thirds; upperwing-coverts blackish, tertials blackish with broad white inner fringes, flight-feathers blackish on inner vanes but outer vanes of inner primaries yellow and those of outer secondaries orange-yellow (forming double wing flash); ear-coverts silver-gray with darker shafts; chin and upper submoustachial area blackish-gray, becoming bluish-gray on lower throat and behind ear-coverts; underparts bright orange-tinged yellow, deeper-toned across breast and flanks; iris hazel to brown; bill pale bluish-plumbeous, with upper mandible orange basally; legs pinkish to dull orange. Female is like male but may be paler orange-yellow. Juvenile (at least of forresti) has throat yellow. Subspecies albilineatus has conspicuous white median crownstripe and richer color overall, especially in intensity of orange coloration, blacker nape side, gray throat and submoustachial area with white feather tips; <em>forresti</em> is similar to previous but crownstripe broader, orange-yellow weaker, weak yellow eyering; amoenus is like last, but throat all gray-black with no silvery tips, and extending farther on underparts, conspicuous yellow eyering; <em>swinhoii</em> is paler yellow, with gray throat , weak grayish eyering; robsoni has yellow eyering strong, chin and throat yellow, crown drab olive-gray, median crownstripe off-white, olive-gray ear-coverts, bright orange secondary wingpanel.

Editor's Note: This article requires further editing work to merge existing content into the appropriate Subspecies sections. Please bear with us while this update takes place.

Subspecies form three groups: “chrysotis group”, with grayish crown and throat and no or vestigial pale coronal stripe; “swinhoii group”, with bold white coronal stripe and blackish crown and throat; and single-taxon “robsoni group”, with yellow throat, yellow-tinged area around eye, olive-tinged crown and ear-coverts, more strongly orange wingpanel formed by edges of secondaries, and possibly smaller size. Study to check species limits needed, although vocal differences not apparent. Birds reported from central Yunnan (northern Ailao Shan), in southern China, have not been assigned to subspecies. Six subspecies recognized.

Editor's Note: Additional distribution information for this taxon can be found in the 'Subspecies' article above. In the future we will develop a range-wide distribution article.

Dense undergrowth, usually dominated by bamboo , in and adjacent to temperate forest. At 2055–3050 m in summer in India (outside Assam); 2400–3050 m in Nepal; 2000–2800 m in Bhutan, some descending to 1300 m in winter; 1800–2700 m in Assam; 2150–2375 m in summer in Myanmar; 1100–2440 m in China, but to 2300 m in summer in Tibet; 1765–2650 m in Vietnam.

Resident; some local seasonal altitudinal displacements.

Insects, small berries and seeds. Found in pairs, or in parties of up to 20–30 or even 50 individuals outside breeding season (although in Bhutan usually in groups of no more than five); sometimes in association with other species, including other babblers, in mixed feeding flocks. Forages low down in thickets; often hangs upside-down in manner of a tit (Paridae).

Song  a rather rapid, very thin, piercing, high-pitched 5-note “si-si-si-si-suu” or “si’i’í’í’í’í’yu’u”, slightly descending (sometimes level), and repeated at intervals. Call  a low loud staccato rattling “witrrrit”, “kwit’t’t”, “wit” and “wittit”, in variable short bursts.

Season May–Jun in India, and present on breeding grounds mid-May to Oct in Bhutan; Apr–Jun in Myanmar and China. Nest constructed by both sexes, over 9–12 days, a very deep cup, sometimes domed or egg-shaped with side entrance, made of dry bamboo leaves, dry grasses, stalks and moss, often plastered with insect cocoons, lined with grass, moss roots, rootlets, animal hair and feathers, placed 0.4–1 m above ground in bamboo clump or bush. Clutch 3–5 eggs, usually 3–4 in India and Myanmar, usually 4 in China, pinkish-white or pinkish, thinly speckled, spotted and sometimes blotched with brown or reddish-brown or pale neutral tint, or with ground color white (swinhoii); incubation period 10–11 days; nestling period 11 days.

Not globally threatened. Generally rather uncommon to fairly common. Very local in west-central and eastern Nepal. Frequently recorded in Bhutan throughout temperate zone, but scarce in western and central valleys; strongholds include forested section of Mo Chhu (Punakha district), forests between Khelakha and Nobding (Wangdue Phodrang district), and forests around Namling (Mongar district); present in Thrumshingla National Park. Local but fairly common in India, where present in and/or near Eaglenest Wildlife Sanctuary. Locally common in northern Myanmar. Relatively uncommon in southern China, where recently recorded in Naling National Nature Reserve (Guangdong) and Maoershan and Cenwanglaoshan Nature Reserves (Guangxi), but not in 51 other sites surveyed. Locally common in Fan Si Pan National Park, in northern Vietnam.