The ashy-throated parrotbill (''Sinosuthora alphonsiana'') is a

parrotbill The parrotbills are a family, Paradoxornithidae, of passerine birds that are primarily native to East and Southeast Asia (with a single species in western North America), though feral populations exist elsewhere. They are generally small, long-t ...

. In old sources, it may be called Alphonse's crow-tit; though superficially resembling a tit it is not a member of the Paridae. The native

range Range may refer to: Geography * Range (geographic), a chain of hills or mountains; a somewhat linear, complex mountainous or hilly area (cordillera, sierra) ** Mountain range, a group of mountains bordered by lowlands * Range, a term used to i ...

of this

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

extends from south-west

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

to northern

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

, and it might have become naturalised in one area in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

Description and systematics

This is a medium-sized tawny-coloured

with the large bill typical of these birds. The

specific epithet In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

commemorates the French ornithologist

Alphonse Milne-Edwards Alphonse Milne-Edwards (Paris, 13 October 1835 – Paris, 21 April 1900) was a French mammalogist, ornithologist, and carcinologist. He was English in origin, the son of Henri Milne-Edwards and grandson of Bryan Edwards, a Jamaican planter who se ...

. Formerly placed with the

typical warbler The typical warblers are small birds belonging to the genus ''Sylvia'' in the "Old World warbler" (or sylviid warbler) family (biology), family Sylviidae.Del Hoyo, J.; Elliot, A., & Christie, D. (editors). (2006). ''Handbook of the Birds of the ...

s (''Sylvia'') in the

Sylviidae Sylviidae is a family of passerine birds that includes the typical warblers and a number of babblers formerly placed within the Old World babbler family. They are found in Eurasia and Africa. Taxonomy and systematics The scientific name Sylviid ...

, the

Old World babbler The Old World babblers or Timaliidae are a family of mostly Old World passerine birds. They are rather diverse in size and coloration, but are characterised by soft fluffy plumage. These are birds of tropical areas, with the greatest variety in S ...

s in the Timaliidae, or the tits and chickadees in the

Paridae The tits, chickadees, and Titmouse, titmice constitute the Paridae, a large family of small passerine birds which occur mainly in the Northern Hemisphere and Africa. Most were formerly classified in the genus ''Parus''. Members of this family a ...

, they are now thought to belong to a distinct parrotbill

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

Paradoxornithidae The parrotbills are a family, Paradoxornithidae, of passerine birds that are primarily native to Eastern Asia, East and Southeast Asia (with a single species in western North America), though feral populations exist elsewhere. They are generally ...

. They might be less close to the great parrotbill (''Conostoma oemodium'') than to ''

Chrysomma ''Chrysomma'' is a songbird genus. ''Chrysomma'' is quite closely related to the parrotbills, and is therefore a member of the family Paradoxornithidae. Species The genus contains two species: The rufous-tailed babbler was formerly placed in t ...

'', or to the

fulvetta ''Fulvetta'' is a genus of passerine birds. Originally proposed in 1877, it was recently reestablished for the typical fulvettas, which were long included with their presumed relatives in the Timaliidae (Old World babbler) genus '' Alcippe''.Co ...

s (''Fulvetta'') which were often included in the

wastebin genus Wastebasket taxon (also called a wastebin taxon, dustbin taxon or catch-all taxon) is a term used by some taxonomists to refer to a taxon that has the sole purpose of classifying organisms that do not fit anywhere else. They are typically define ...

'' Alcippe''. Another relative might be the

wrentit The wrentit (''Chamaea fasciata'') is a small bird that lives in chaparral, oak woodlands, and bushland on the western coast of North America. It is the only species in the genus ''Chamaea''. Its systematics have been the subject of much debat ...

(''Chamaea fasciata''), the only known

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

member of the

in the modern circumscription. The former two, and occasionally also the wrentit, were traditionally considered typical warblers or Old World babblers.Cibois (2003), Alström ''et al.'' (2006), Jønsson & Fjeldså (2006), Pasquet ''et al.'' (2006), Yeung ''et al.'' (2006) Together with the other lineages of parrotbills, these and the golden-breasted fulvetta (''Lioparus chrysotis'') and species in the genus

Rhopophilus ''Rhopophilus'' is a genus of songbirds in the family Paradoxornithidae. The genus contains two species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A s ...

form an Asian counterpart to the westward radiation of the typical warblers. Rather than two genera – ''

Paradoxornis ''Paradoxornis'' is a genus of passerine birds in the family Paradoxornithidae The parrotbills are a family, Paradoxornithidae, of passerine birds that are primarily native to East and Southeast Asia (with a single species in western North Am ...

'' and the

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispec ...

''Conostoma'' – the parrotbills are better considered several independent lineages which show pronounced

convergent evolution Convergent evolution is the independent evolution of similar features in species of different periods or epochs in time. Convergent evolution creates analogous structures that have similar form or function but were not present in the last com ...

, due to

adaptation In biology, adaptation has three related meanings. Firstly, it is the dynamic evolutionary process of natural selection that fits organisms to their environment, enhancing their evolutionary fitness. Secondly, it is a state reached by the po ...

to reedbed habitat and a more

granivorous Seed predation, often referred to as granivory, is a type of plant-animal interaction in which granivores (seed predators) feed on the seeds of plants as a main or exclusive food source,Hulme, P.E. and Benkman, C.W. (2002) "Granivory", pp. 132 ...

diet than their skulking

warbler Various Passeriformes (perching birds) are commonly referred to as warblers. They are not necessarily closely related to one another, but share some characteristics, such as being fairly small, vocal, and insectivorous. Sylvioid warblers Th ...

-like ancestor. In this case, the ashy-throated parrotbill would probably be assigned to genus ''Sinoparadoxornis''. Comabbio0001

Possible naturalisation in Italy

A population of

s was first discovered in northern

in 1995, at the ''Riserva naturale Palude Brabbia'' ( Brabbia Swamp Nature Reserve), between

Cazzago Brabbia Cazzago Brabbia is a ''comune The (; plural: ) is a local administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions ('' regioni'') and provinces ...

on Lago di Varese and

Varano Borghi Varano Borghi is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Varese in the Italian region Lombardy, located about northwest of Milan and about southwest of Varese. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 2,242 and an area of .All demo ...

on Lago di Comabbio. In March 1998, 21 individuals were captured and photographed, and provisionally identified as ashy-throated parrotbills. It is not entirely clear, however, whether the birds are indeed ''S. alphonsiana'', its close relative the ''S. webbiana'' ( vinous-throated parrotbill), both

, or even

hybrid Hybrid may refer to: Science * Hybrid (biology), an offspring resulting from cross-breeding ** Hybrid grape, grape varieties produced by cross-breeding two ''Vitis'' species ** Hybridity, the property of a hybrid plant which is a union of two dif ...

s between them (as are known from their natural range). While they do not seem to be brown-winged parrotbills (''S. brunnea'', another close relative), certain identification to species may be impossible without analysis of both

nDNA Nuclear DNA (nDNA), or nuclear deoxyribonucleic acid, is the DNA contained within each cell nucleus of a eukaryotic organism. It encodes for the majority of the genome in eukaryotes, with mitochondrial DNA and plastid DNA coding for the rest. I ...

and

mtDNA Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA or mDNA) is the DNA located in mitochondria, cellular organelles within eukaryotic cells that convert chemical energy from food into a form that cells can use, such as adenosine triphosphate (ATP). Mitochondrial DNA ...

sequence In mathematics, a sequence is an enumerated collection of objects in which repetitions are allowed and order matters. Like a set, it contains members (also called ''elements'', or ''terms''). The number of elements (possibly infinite) is calle ...

data.Boto ''et al.'' (1999) The population is believed to originate from birds escaping from a nearby bird-trader. By 1999, the number of birds in the swamp had grown to at least a hundred individuals; in December 1998, the parrotbills were also observed in two localities on the Lago di Varese. By the early 21st century, the birds are well-established as resident breeders. They are the only self-sustaining parrotbill population found in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

, as it was discovered that the

bearded reedling The bearded reedling (''Panurus biarmicus'') is a small, sexual dimorphism, sexually dimorphic reed bed, reed-bed passerine bird. It is frequently known as the bearded tit, due to some similarities to the long-tailed tit, or the bearded parrotbil ...

(''Panurus biarmicus'') – long believed to be an aberrant parrotbill – is actually a distinct lineage with no known relatives among the

Passerida Passerida is, under the Sibley-Ahlquist taxonomy, one of two parvorders contained within the suborder Passeri (standard taxonomic practice would place them at the rank of infraorder). While more recent research suggests that its sister parvorder ...

Ecology

Contrary to their western

Eurasia Eurasia (, ) is the largest continental area on Earth, comprising all of Europe and Asia. Primarily in the Northern and Eastern Hemispheres, it spans from the British Isles and the Iberian Peninsula in the west to the Japanese archipelago a ...

n relatives (the

s), these

East Asia East Asia is the eastern region of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The modern states of East Asia include China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan. China, North Korea, South Korea and ...

n birds are small

omnivore An omnivore () is an animal that has the ability to eat and survive on both plant and animal matter. Obtaining energy and nutrients from plant and animal matter, omnivores digest carbohydrates, protein, fat, and fiber, and metabolize the nutr ...

adapted In biology, adaptation has three related meanings. Firstly, it is the dynamic evolutionary process of natural selection that fits organisms to their environment, enhancing their evolutionary fitness. Secondly, it is a state reached by the po ...

to living in

reed bed A reedbed or reed bed is a natural habitat found in floodplains, waterlogged depressions and estuaries. Reedbeds are part of a succession from young reeds colonising open water or wet ground through a gradation of increasingly dry ground. As ...

s. In its native range, the ashy-throated parrotbill inhabits

bamboo Bamboos are a diverse group of evergreen perennial flowering plants making up the subfamily Bambusoideae of the grass family Poaceae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family. The origin of the word "bamboo" is uncertain, bu ...

stands and areas with tall

grass Poaceae () or Gramineae () is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos and the grasses of natural grassland and species cultivated in lawns an ...

es. The

s in Brabbia Swamp Nature Reserve inhabit

common reed ''Phragmites australis'', known as the common reed, is a species of plant. It is a broadly distributed wetland grass that can grow up to tall. Description ''Phragmites australis'' commonly forms extensive stands (known as reed beds), which may ...

(''Phragmites australis'') beds and drier land overgrown with meadowsweet (''Filipendula ulmaria''),

grey willow Grey willow or gray willow may refer to: *''Salix atrocinerea'', a species of willow native to Europe commonly called grey willow *''Salix cinerea'', a species of willow native to Europe and western Asia, also occasionally called grey sallow *''Sal ...

(''Salix cinerea'') and giant goldenrod (''Solidago gigantea''). It feeds on

arthropod Arthropods (, (gen. ποδός)) are invertebrate animals with an exoskeleton, a Segmentation (biology), segmented body, and paired jointed appendages. Arthropods form the phylum Arthropoda. They are distinguished by their jointed limbs and Arth ...

seed A seed is an embryonic plant enclosed in a protective outer covering, along with a food reserve. The formation of the seed is a part of the process of reproduction in seed plants, the spermatophytes, including the gymnosperm and angiospe ...

s and

bud In botany, a bud is an undeveloped or embryonic shoot and normally occurs in the axil of a leaf or at the tip of a stem. Once formed, a bud may remain for some time in a dormant condition, or it may form a shoot immediately. Buds may be spec ...

s; in winter, the Italian birds seem to sustain themselves on

insect Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body ( head, thorax and abdomen), three pairs ...

s that

hibernate Hibernation is a state of minimal activity and metabolic depression undergone by some animal species. Hibernation is a seasonal heterothermy characterized by low body-temperature, slow breathing and heart-rate, and low metabolic rate. It most ...

in reed stalks. As in its relatives in ( sub)

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

''Sinoparadoxornis'', its

eggs Humans and human ancestors have scavenged and eaten animal eggs for millions of years. Humans in Southeast Asia had domesticated chickens and harvested their eggs for food by 1,500 BCE. The most widely consumed eggs are those of fowl, especial ...

are small by parrotbill standards, whitish- to light-blue and unspotted. This bird will disappear if

wetland A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The ...

s are drained, but its range is considerable and much of its

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

is remote and little accessed. It is thus considered a Species of

Least Concern A least-concern species is a species that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as evaluated as not being a focus of species conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wild. T ...

by the

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

.BLI (2008)

Footnotes

References

* Alström, Per; Ericson, Per G.P; Olsson, Urban & Sundberg, Per (2006): Phylogeny and classification of the avian superfamily Sylvioidea. '' Mol. Phylogenet. Evol.'' 38(2): 381–397. PDF fulltext
* Bangs, Outram (1932): Birds of western China obtained by the Kelley-Roosevelts expedition. '' Field Mus. Nat. Hist. Zool. Ser.'' 18(11): 343–379
Fulltext
at the

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

* * Boto, Alberto; Rubolini, Diego; Viganò, Andrea & Guenzani, Walter (1999): ''Paradoxornis alphonsianus'': una nuova specie naturalizzata per l'Italia ''P. alphonsianus'': a new naturalized species in Italy" ''Quaderni di Birdwatching'' 1(1). [Article in Italian
HTML fulltext
* Boto, Alberto, Andrea Galimberti and Richard Bonser (2009) The parrotbills in Lombardia, Italy ''Birding World'' 22(11):471-474 * Cibois, Alice (2003): Mitochondrial DNA Phylogeny of Babblers (Timaliidae). ''Auk (journal), Auk'' 120(1): 1–20. Digital Object Identifier, DOI: 10.1642/0004-8038(2003)120 035:MDPOBT.0.CO;2HTML fulltext without images
* Jønsson, Knud A. & Fjeldså, Jon (2006): A phylogenetic supertree of oscine passerine birds (Aves: Passeri). '' Zool. Scripta'' 35(2): 149–186. (HTML abstract) * Pasquet, Eric; Bourdon, Estelle; Kalyakin, Mikhail V. & Cibois, Alice (2006): The fulvettas (''Alcippe''), Timaliidae, Aves): a polyphyletic group. '' Zool. Scripta'' 35(6):, 559–566. (HTML abstract) * * Walters, Michael (2006): Colour in birds' eggs: the collections of the Natural History Museum, Tring. ''Historical Biology'' 18(2): 141–204. (HTML abstract) * Yeung, C; Lai, F-M; Yang, X-J; Han, L-X; Lin, M-C. & Li, S-H. (2006): Molecular phylogeny of the parrotbills (Paradoxornithidae). '' J. Ornithol.'' 147(Supplement 1): 87–88. (HTML abstract) {{Taxonbar, from=Q27075559 Sinosuthora Parrotbills Birds of China Birds described in 1870