Family Old World Flycatchers and Chats (Muscicapidae)

Least Concern

White-tailed Blue Robin (Myiomela leucura)

Taxonomy

French: Myiomèle à queue blanche German: Schattenschmätzer Spanish: Ruiseñor coliblanco

Other common names: White-tailed Robin

Taxonomy:

M[uscisylvia]. leucura

Hodgson

, 1845,

Nepal

Often placed in Cinclidium. Hitherto treated as conspecific with M. cambodiana (which see). Two subspecies recognized.

Subspecies and Distribution

M. l. leucura (Hodgson, 1845) – C & E Himalayas from WC Nepal to NE India (Arunachal Pradesh and S Assam hills) E to C China (N to SE Gansu and S Shaanxi), S to Myanmar, NW & N Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Peninsular Malaysia and Hainan.

M. l. montium Swinhoe, 1864 – Taiwan.

Descriptive notes

17–19 cm; 24–30 g. Male nominate race is bluish black, with shiny mid-blue forehead to brow and shoulder patch, very small white neck patch (often concealed),... read more

Voice

Song a series of short well-spaced phrases consisting of thin silvery liquid quavering warble of 7... read more

Habitat

Thick shady, bushy or scrubby undergrowth of dense moist broadleaf evergreen forest in lower cloud... read more

Food and feeding

Insects, berries. Forages largely on ground, but also in low underbrush, and more arboreal than Tarsiger bush-robins. Very... read more

Breeding

Presumed Apr–Jun, reportedly into Aug, in Himalayas; Apr onwards in China; as late as Sept in Myanmar; Mar–Apr in Peninsular... read more

Movements

Sedentary; some altitudinal and minor short-distance movements.

Status and conservation

Not globally threatened (Least Concern). Locally common in India; sparsely distributed in scattered small populations in Nepal. Uncommon in Myanmar, Thailand, Peninsular... read more

Bibliography

Public comments

Recommended citation

Collar, N. & Christie, D.A. (2020). White-tailed Blue Robin (Myiomela leucura). In: del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., Sargatal, J., Christie, D.A. & de Juana, E. (eds.). Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. (retrieved from https://www.hbw.com/node/58507 on 25 January 2020).

Scientific classification

Class: Aves

Order: Passeriformes

Family: Muscicapidae

— Show family text —

In past, traditionally treated as an outsize family that also included expanded versions of Sylviidae, Timaliidae and Turdidae; these three were subsequently split off as three separate families, but still in much expanded form as compared to their current treatment. Since publication of HBW, limits of all these families have been dramatically rewritten due to a barrage of occasionally contradictory molecular data. Within present family problems remain, particularly due to incomplete taxon sampling, but near-complete screening to species level has now been attempted for at least a handful of genera (notably Oenanthe and Saxicola), and large elements of consensus have emerged, among them the recognition of four principal lineages, here treated as subfamilies. Most notable development involves transfer of many genera from Turdidae to present family, including Alethe, Cichladusa, Heteroxenicus, Brachypteryx, Heinrichia, Myophonus, Monticola, Thamnolaea, Myrmecocichla, Pogonocichla, Swynnertonia, Stiphrornis, Sheppardia, Cossypha, Xenocopsychus, Irania, Luscinia, Erithacus, Tarsiger, Cercotrichas, Copsychus, Phoenicurus, Saxicola and Oenanthe. Genetic sampling has also revealed extensive paraphyly, with the result that many species have switched genera. Some genera have disappeared completely into synonymy (e.g. Erythropygia), and others have shrunk to just one or two species (e.g. Luscinia), while a few have become substantially larger (e.g. Cercotrichas, Oenanthe).