The giant babax (''Pterorhinus waddelli'') is a species of bird in the laughingthrush family Leiothrichidae, found in India and Tibet. It prefers the low bushes at the edge of the southern Tibetan plateau, and is threatened by habitat loss. A common sight around villages and monasteries, where it feeds off scraps, it is a bulky, long-tailed brown bird with a curved bill and dark streaks. Its vocalizations vary between melodic flute-like notes and harsh jabbering ones. The giant babax was described by the English ornithologist Henry Dresser in 1905 from a specimen collected by the British explorer

Laurence Waddell Lieutenant Colonel Laurence Austine Waddell, CB, CIE, F.L.S., L.L.D, M.Ch., I.M.S. RAI, F.R.A.S (29 May 1854 – 19 September 1938) was a Scottish explorer, Professor of Tibetan, Professor of Chemistry and Pathology, Indian Army surgeon ...

in the Yarlung Tsangpo river valley in Tibet. Based on the results of a comprehensive

molecular phylogenetic Molecular phylogenetics () is the branch of phylogeny that analyzes genetic, hereditary molecular differences, predominantly in DNA sequences, to gain information on an organism's evolutionary relationships. From these analyses, it is possible to ...

study of the Leiothrichidae that was published in 2018, the giant babax was placed in the resurrected genus '' Pterorhinus''.

References

*Collar, N. J. & Robson C. 2007. Family Timaliidae (Babblers) pp. 70 – 291 in; del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A. & Christie, D.A. eds. ''

Handbook of the Birds of the World The ''Handbook of the Birds of the World'' (HBW) is a multi-volume series produced by the Spanish publishing house Lynx Edicions in partnership with BirdLife International. It is the first handbook to cover every known living species of bird. T ...

'', Vol. 12. Picathartes to Tits and Chickadees. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona.

External links

Xeno-canto: audio recordings of the giant babax

giant babax The giant babax (''Pterorhinus waddelli'') is a species of bird in the laughingthrush family Leiothrichidae, found in India and Tibet. It prefers the low bushes at the edge of the southern Tibetan plateau, and is threatened by habitat loss. A co ...

Birds of Northeast India Birds of Tibet

Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Taxobox binomials not recognized by IUCN {{Sylvioidea-stub