- Calliope pectoralis
Identification
14–16 cm (5½-6¼ in)
- Grey upperparts
- Bold white supercilium
- Ruby-red throat patch
- Black breast
- White belly
Similar Species
Siberian Rubythroat has brown upperparts, Chinese Rubythroat has a white sub-moustachial stripe.
Distribution
Asia: found in Turkestan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, China, Inner Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, India, Eastern and Western Himalayas, Bangladesh and Bhutan
Southeast Asia: Indochina, and Thailand
Taxonomy
Formerly placed in genus Luscinia and considered conspecific with Chinese Rubythroat.
Subspecies
There are 3 subspecies[1]:
- C. p. pectoralis:
- Mountains of Turkestan to Afghanistan (Pamirs) and northern Pakistan
- C. p. confusa:
- C. p. ballioni:
- Western China (western Xinjiang from Tien Shan to Kashgar)
Habitat
Tall grassy thickets above the tree-line.
Behaviour
Diet
Their main diet consists of insects such as spiders; molluscs and small reptiles. They also eat a lot of caterpillars in the summer.
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2018. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2018. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- Gill, F and D Donsker (Eds). 2017. IOC World Bird Names (version 7.1). Available at http://www.worldbirdnames.org/.
- Avibase
- Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (retrieved February 2017)
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Himalayan Rubythroat. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 28 April 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Himalayan_Rubythroat