The Chinese hwamei or melodious laughingthrush (''Garrulax canorus'') is a
passerine
A passerine () is any bird of the order Passeriformes (; from Latin 'sparrow' and '-shaped'), which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds, passerines are distinguished from other orders of birds by t ...
bird
Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweigh ...
of eastern
Asia
Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...
in the family
Leiothrichidae
The laughingthrushes are a family, Leiothrichidae, of Old World passerine birds. They are diverse in size and coloration. These are birds of tropical areas, with the greatest variety in Southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent. The entire fam ...
. The name "hwamei" comes from the
Chinese
Chinese can refer to:
* Something related to China
* Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity
**''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation
** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...
画眉 (huà-méi) means "painted eyebrow" referring to the distinctive marking around the bird's eyes. The species is a popular
cagebird
Aviculture is the practice of keeping and breeding birds, especially of wild birds in captivity.
Types
There are various reasons that people get involved in aviculture. Some people breed birds to preserve a species. Some people breed parrots a ...
because of its attractive song.
Taxonomy
It has two
subspecies
In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...
: ''G. c. canorus'', native to mainland Asia, and ''G. c. owstoni'' of
Hainan
Hainan (, ; ) is the smallest and southernmost province of the People's Republic of China (PRC), consisting of various islands in the South China Sea. , the largest and most populous island in China,The island of Taiwan, which is slightly l ...
Island. The
Taiwan hwamei
The Taiwan hwamei (''Garrulax taewanus'') is a passerine bird in the family Leiothrichidae. The species was first described by Robert Swinhoe in 1859. It is endemic to the island of Taiwan. It was formerly regarded as a subspecies of the Chinese ...
(''Leucodioptron taewanum'') was formerly considered to be a subspecies of the Chinese hwamei but has recently been split as a separate species. Based on a study of the
mitochondrial cytochrome b
Cytochrome b within both molecular and cell biology, is a protein found in the mitochondria of eukaryotic cells. It functions as part of the electron transport chain and is the main subunit of transmembrane cytochrome bc1 and b6f complexes.
F ...
gene
In biology, the word gene (from , ; "...Wilhelm Johannsen coined the word gene to describe the Mendelian units of heredity..." meaning ''generation'' or ''birth'' or ''gender'') can have several different meanings. The Mendelian gene is a ba ...
, Li ''et al.'' (2006) suggested that the two species diverged about 1.5 million years ago with the two Chinese hwamei subspecies diverging about 600,000 years ago. The two were formerly placed in the
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 ...
''Garrulax'' with the other
laughingthrush
The laughingthrushes are a family, Leiothrichidae, of Old World passerine birds. They are diverse in size and coloration. These are birds of tropical areas, with the greatest variety in Southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent. The entire fam ...
es but have recently been moved to a new genus ''
Leucodioptron''.
The Chinese hwamei was introduced to
Taiwan
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...
in large numbers in the 1980s and
hybridization with the native Taiwan hwamei is occurring which may threaten the genetic uniqueness of the latter form.
Birding in Taiwan - Hwamei
Retrieved 16/07/07.
Description
It is 21 to 25 cm long with broad, rounded wings and a fan-shaped tail. The plumage
Plumage ( "feather") is a layer of feathers that covers a bird and the pattern, colour, and arrangement of those feathers. The pattern and colours of plumage differ between species and subspecies and may vary with age classes. Within species, ...
is mostly reddish-brown with dark streaks on the crown, back and throat. There is a white ring around the eye which extends backwards as a white stripe. The bill
Bill(s) may refer to:
Common meanings
* Banknote, paper cash (especially in the United States)
* Bill (law), a proposed law put before a legislature
* Invoice, commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer
* Bill, a bird or animal's beak
Plac ...
and feet are yellowish. Birds on Hainan
Hainan (, ; ) is the smallest and southernmost province of the People's Republic of China (PRC), consisting of various islands in the South China Sea. , the largest and most populous island in China,The island of Taiwan, which is slightly l ...
Island (''L. c. owstoni'') are paler below and more olive-coloured above. The Taiwan hwamei is greyer and more streaked and lacks the white markings on the head.
The song
A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetitio ...
is a loud, clear, varied whistling with regular repetition and imitations of other birds. The call is a rasping whistle or rattle.
Distribution and habitat
The nominate subspecies ''G. c. canorus'' occurs across south-eastern and central 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 ...
and in northern and central 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 Laos
Laos (, ''Lāo'' )), officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic ( Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ, French: République démocratique populaire lao), is a socialist ...
. The race ''G. c. owstoni'' is found on Hainan.
''G. c. canorus'' has been introduced to Taiwan, Singapore
Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...
, Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
and Hawaii
Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...
. In the Hawaiian Islands it was introduced in the early 20th century and now occurs in both native forest and man-made habitats. It is common on Kauai
Kauai, () anglicized as Kauai ( ), is geologically the second-oldest of the main Hawaiian Islands (after Niʻihau). With an area of 562.3 square miles (1,456.4 km2), it is the fourth-largest of these islands and the 21st largest island ...
, Maui
The island of Maui (; Hawaiian: ) is the second-largest of the islands of the state of Hawaii at 727.2 square miles (1,883 km2) and is the 17th largest island in the United States. Maui is the largest of Maui County's four islands, which ...
and Hawaii Island
Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii ) is the largest island in the United States, located in the state of Hawaii. It is the southeasternmost of the Hawaiian Islands, a chain of volcanic islands in the North Pacific Ocean. With an area of , it has 63% of t ...
but less so on Oahu
Oahu () (Hawaiian language, Hawaiian: ''Oʻahu'' ()), also known as "The Gathering place#Island of Oʻahu as The Gathering Place, Gathering Place", is the third-largest of the Hawaiian Islands. It is home to roughly one million people—over t ...
and Molokai
Molokai , or Molokai (), is the fifth most populated of the eight major islands that make up the Hawaiian Islands, Hawaiian Islands archipelago in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. It is 38 by 10 miles (61 by 16 km) at its greatest length an ...
.
The bird inhabits scrubland
Shrubland, scrubland, scrub, brush, or bush is a plant community characterized by vegetation dominance (ecology), dominated by shrubs, often also including grasses, Herbaceous plant, herbs, and geophytes. Shrubland may either occur naturally or ...
, open woodland
A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with trees, or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the ''plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade (see ...
, secondary forest
A secondary forest (or second-growth forest) is a forest or woodland area which has re-grown after a timber harvest or clearing for agriculture, until a long enough period has passed so that the effects of the disturbance are no longer evident. ...
, parks and gardens up to 1800
metres above sea level. It is common in much of its range and is not considered a threatened species
Threatened species are any species (including animals, plants and fungi) which are vulnerable to endangerment in the near future. Species that are threatened are sometimes characterised by the population dynamics measure of ''critical depensa ...
.
Behaviour
It is a skulking bird which is often very difficult to see. It typically feeds on the ground among leaf litter, foraging for insects and fruit. It usually occurs in pairs or in small groups.
The breeding season lasts from May to July. A large cup-shaped nest
A nest is a structure built for certain animals to hold eggs or young. Although nests are most closely associated with birds, members of all classes of vertebrates and some invertebrates construct nests. They may be composed of organic materia ...
is built up to two metres above the ground in a tree or bush or amongst undergrowth. Two to five blue or blue-green 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 laid.
References
*MacKinnon, John & Phillipps, Karen (2000) ''A Field Guide to the Birds of China'', Oxford University Press, Oxford.
*Pratt, H. Douglas; Bruner, Philip L. & Berrett, Delwyn G. (1987), ''A Field Guide to the Birds of Hawaii and the Tropical Pacific'', Princeton University Press, Chichester.
*Robson, Craig (2002) ''A Field Guide to the Birds of South-East Asia'', New Holland Publishers (UK) Ltd., London.
External links
*
Oriental Bird Images - hwamei
Hwamei videos
on the Internet Bird Collection
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1589896
Chinese hwamei
The Chinese hwamei or melodious laughingthrush (''Garrulax canorus'') is a passerine bird of eastern Asia in the family Leiothrichidae. The name "hwamei" comes from the Chinese 画眉 (huà-méi) means "painted eyebrow" referring to the distinct ...
Birds of China
Birds of Laos
Birds of Singapore
Birds of Taiwan
Birds of Vietnam
Chinese hwamei
The Chinese hwamei or melodious laughingthrush (''Garrulax canorus'') is a passerine bird of eastern Asia in the family Leiothrichidae. The name "hwamei" comes from the Chinese 画眉 (huà-méi) means "painted eyebrow" referring to the distinct ...
Chinese hwamei
The Chinese hwamei or melodious laughingthrush (''Garrulax canorus'') is a passerine bird of eastern Asia in the family Leiothrichidae. The name "hwamei" comes from the Chinese 画眉 (huà-méi) means "painted eyebrow" referring to the distinct ...