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Grey Bushchat - BirdForum Opus

Photo by Yeshey Dorji
Taba, Thimphu, Bhutan, August 2005
Saxicola ferreus

Identification

14–15 cm (5½-6 in)
Male

  • Grey plumage
  • Long white supercilium
  • White throat and wing bar

Distribution

Female
Photo by aloktewari
YSS Ashram, Dwarahat, Uttarakhand, India, 13 November 2011

Asia: found from northern Pakistan through the Himalayan areas of northern India to southern Tibet, south-eastern China, Myanmar and northern Indochina

Taxonomy

Two subspecies recognized[1]:

  • S. f. haringtoni breeds southeastern China (north to Gansu and Shaanxi east to Shanghai); winters to southern China and Indochina
  • S. f. ferreus breeds in the Himalayas from northwestern Pakistan east to Myanmar, northwestern Thailand, north central Laos, and central Vietnam (southern Annam), and (probably this subspecies) in southern China (southeastern Xizang, western and southern Yunnan); in winter to northern India, southern Myanmar, and southern Indochina

Subspecies haringtoni was formerly included in Jerdon's Bushchat.

Habitat

Montane broad-leaved forests, and forest edges; gardens with shrubs and bushes and small trees. Observed in the Himalayas at heights around 2133 m.

Behaviour

Diet

Immature
Photo by aloktewari
Dalhosie Hill Station, Himachal Pradesh, India, 17 June 2014

Their diet consists of a wide variety of insects, including spiders, grasshoppers and beetles, with the occasional addition of seeds.

Vocalisation

Lovely sunset song, rendered by a male, perched atop a tree.


Recording by Alok Tewari
Dwarahat, Almora, Altitude 5000 ft., Uttarakhand Himalayas, India, 29 October 2023.


Summer song by a male before day-break, 5.03 am; calls of Russet Sparrow and Asian Koel male are also heard in the recording.
Recording by Alok Tewari
Dwarahat, Almora, Altitude 5000 ft., Uttarakhand Himalayas, India, 4 May 2024, 5.03 am.

References

  1. Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, S. M. Billerman, T. A. Fredericks, J. A. Gerbracht, D. Lepage, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2021. The eBird/Clements checklist of Birds of the World: v2021. Downloaded from https://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
  2. Avibase
  3. Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (retrieved February 2015)
  4. Birdforum Member observations

Recommended Citation

External Links


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