Red-tailed Minla - BirdForum Opus

Photo by paux
West Yunnan, China, February 2016

Minla ignotincta

Identification

With 13 - 14.5 cm a small, brown backed Babbler:

• Broad white supercilium
• Black crown and mask
• Pale yellow underparts
• Black wings with red to yellow outer trims

Females are duller than males and hav paler greyish-brown upperparts, plaer pinkish-yellow to whitish flight-feather trim and whiter tail tip. Juveniles have some faint dark scaling below.

Similar Species

Could be confused with much larger male White-browed Shrike-Babbler which is grey-backed and has more solid black wings and tail.

Distribution

Found in the Himalayas from Central Nepal east over Bhutan and NE India into S and C China. Also in the mountains of Myanmar, E Laos and Vietnam.
Common in most parts of its range and easily found in some national parks.¹

Taxonomy

Subspecies

Clements² and others accept four subspecies:

• M. i. ignotincta from Nepal east over Assam into S China (north-western Yunnan) and Myanmar
• M. i. mariae in Central and south-eastern Yunnan (China), eastern Laos and western Vietnam
• M. i. jerdoni in south-central China
• M. i. sini in the Yao Shan, Guangxi (south-eastern China)

Mariae and sini are sometimes merged into jerdoni.¹

Habitat

Broadleaf evergreen forest, mixed broadleaf-conifer forest, oak and rhododendron forest. Mainly from 1370m to 3400m in the Indian Subcontinent, 1000m - 3050m in China, but also reported down to 200m.¹

Behaviour

Usually found in big flocks or in bird waves, together with other Babblers (eg Chestnut-tailed Minla).

Movements

Resident species, some altitudinal movement reported.¹

Diet

Feeds mainly on insects and larvae. Takes sometimes also seeds. Searches insects on branches and trunks, similar to Treecreepers.

Breeding

Breeding season from April to June. The nest is a nice, small cup, made of moss and rootlet and placed in a bush fork or bushy tree some 1.2 to 3m above the ground. Lays 2 - 4 eggs.

Vocalisation

Recorded by china guy, Sichuan, China, August 2011

Gallery

Click on photo for larger image

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  Photo by James Eaton
  Tengchong, Yunnan, China, July 2004

References

1. Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2015. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2015, with updates to August 2015. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
2. Del Hoyo, J, A Elliott, and D Christie, eds. 2007. Handbook of the Birds of the World. Volume 12: Picathartes to Tits and Chickadees. Barcelona: Lynx Edicions. ISBN 978-8496553422

• List of references

Recommended Citation

• BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Red-tailed Minla. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 2 May 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Red-tailed_Minla

External Links

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