The black-breasted parrotbill (''Paradoxornis flavirostris'') is a 19 cm long, large, thick-billed

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 ...

with black patches on the head-sides and throat. 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 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 ...

(Jønsson & Fjeldså 2006), the parrotbills are now considered a distinct

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 ...

, the

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 ...

. The bird is more or less brown all over, with an extensive black area on upper breast and uniform rufous-buff remainder of underparts. The similar

spot-breasted parrotbill The spot-breasted parrotbill (''Paradoxornis guttaticollis'') is a species of bird in the family Paradoxornithidae. It is found in Bangladesh, China, India, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam. References *Robson, C. (2007). Family Paradoxorni ...

, a close relative, has arrow-shaped spotting on breast and pale buff underparts. The voice is a gruff or , the song a rhythmic series, and . Alternatively, a higher-pitched is given.(BLI 2006) ''Paradoxornis flavirostris'' is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

to the Indian subcontinent and in modern times possibly the country of India, where it is known from the plains and foothills of the

Brahmaputra The Brahmaputra is a trans-boundary river which flows through Tibet, northeast India, and Bangladesh. It is also known as the Yarlung Tsangpo in Tibetan, the Siang/Dihang River in Arunachali, Luit in Assamese, and Jamuna River in Bangla. It ...

valley in

Arunachal Pradesh Arunachal Pradesh (, ) is a state in Northeastern India. It was formed from the erstwhile North-East Frontier Agency (NEFA) region, and became a state on 20 February 1987. It borders the states of Assam and Nagaland to the south. It shares int ...

and

Assam Assam (; ) is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . The state is bordered by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh to the north; Nagaland and Manipur ...

. Historically, it was also recorded in

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

and possibly eastern

Nepal Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mai ...

. It used to be a fairly widespread and locally common species. There are, however, recent records from only three disjunct locations, one in Arunachal Pradesh and two in Assam (one in Manas National Park and another in Dibru-Saikhowa National Park) (BLI 2006).

Gallery

File:Black-breasted Parrotbill AMSM1523.jpg, Black-breasted Parrotbill at

Manas National Park Manas may refer to: Philosophy and mythology *Manas, the Pali and Sanskrit term for "mind"; see **Manas (early Buddhism) **Manas-vijnana, one of the eight consciousnesses taught in Yogacara Buddhism *''Ramcharitmanas'', a retelling of the Ramayan ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

File:Black-breasted Parrotbill AMSM1556.jpg, Black-breasted Parrotbill at

References

BirdLife International BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding ...

(BLI) (2006)
Species factsheet: ''Paradoxornis flavirostris''
Retrieved 2007-APR-07. *Jønsson, Knud A. & Fjeldså, Jon (2006): A phylogenetic supertree of oscine passerine birds (Aves: Passeri). '' Zool. Scripta'' 35(2): 149–186. (HTML abstract) *Robson, C. (2007). Family Paradoxornithidae (Parrotbills) pp. 292 – 321 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.

black-breasted parrotbill The black-breasted parrotbill (''Paradoxornis flavirostris'') is a 19 cm long, large, thick-billed parrotbill with black patches on the head-sides and throat. Formerly placed with the typical warblers in the Sylviidae (Jønsson & Fjeldså 2 ...

Birds of Northeast India

{{Sylvioidea-stub