Family Bush-warblers (Scotocercidae)
Least Concern
Slaty-bellied Tesia (Tesia olivea)
Taxonomy
French: Tésie à ventre ardoise German: Goldscheitel-Stutzschwanz Spanish: Tesia pizarrosa
Taxonomy:
Saxicola? olivea
McClelland
, 1840,Assam, north-east India
.
Subspecies and Distribution
T. o. olivea
(McClelland, 1840) – E Nepal and NE India (Assam, Arunachal Pradesh) E to S China (SE Xizang, SC Sichuan, Yunnan, E Guizhou, E Guangxi) and NE Myanmar.
T. o. chiangmaiensis
Renner et al., 2008 – NW Thailand, N & C Laos and N Vietnam (Tonkin, N Annam).
Descriptive notes
9–10 cm; 6–9 g. Small, upright and apparently tailless but long-legged, ground-dwelling warbler. Crown and nape are yellowish-green (sometimes duller), with broad... read more
Voice
Call principally a sharp “tchirik” and a spluttering rattle, “trrrrt trrrrt trrrrt…”. Song 4–... read more
Habitat
Dense undergrowth of moist evergreen tropical and subtropical forests; preference for damp areas... read more
Food and feeding
Food largely unknown; presumably invertebrates and larvae. Active but extremely skulking, although often inquisitive and seemingly not shy... read more
Breeding
No information.
Movements
Altitudinal migrant, with post-breeding movement downhill. Vagrant to Bangladesh.
Status and conservation
Not globally threatened. Rare in Nepal, where recorded only in Arun Valley; locally common in NE India, but possibly only non-breeding visitor in Assam; generally uncommon in... read more
Recently described race chiangmaiensis#R based on morphometric characters, plumage, voice (song) and mtDNA data. Two subspecies recognized.