The collared treepie (''Dendrocitta frontalis''), also known as black-faced treepie or black-browed treepie, is an
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 ...
n
treepie
The treepies (known also as crypsirinines from the subfamily's name, ''Crypsirininae'') comprise four closely related genera (''Dendrocitta, Crypsirina, Temnurus'' and ''Platysmurus'') of long-tailed passerine birds in the family Corvidae. There ...
, a small
perching bird
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 ...
of the
crow
A crow is a bird of the genus ''Corvus'', or more broadly a synonym for all of ''Corvus''. Crows are generally black in colour. The word "crow" is used as part of the common name of many species. The related term "raven" is not pinned scientifical ...
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 ...
,
Corvidae
Corvidae is a cosmopolitan family of oscine passerine birds that contains the crows, ravens, rooks, jackdaws, jays, magpies, treepies, choughs, and nutcrackers. In colloquial English, they are known as the crow family or corvids. Currently, 13 ...
.
This bird is slightly smaller than a
blue jay
The blue jay (''Cyanocitta cristata'') is a passerine bird in the family Corvidae, native to eastern North America. It lives in most of the eastern and central United States; some eastern populations may be migratory. Resident populations are a ...
and has the typical compact body and long tail of this group. The forehead, face and bib are black with the chest, neck and shoulders a light silvery or bluish-grey in color. The back is a warm chestnut brown with similar underparts. The wing coverts are white with the primaries and tail black.
It inhabits a broad band (though often very localized) from the north eastern Indian
Himalayas
The Himalayas, or Himalaya (; ; ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the planet's highest peaks, including the very highest, Mount Everest. Over 100 ...
,
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 ...
,
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 ...
and across into
Burma
Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...
(Myanmar) in hill forests often at quite high elevations.
It feeds mainly on
invertebrate
Invertebrates are a paraphyletic group of animals that neither possess nor develop a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''backbone'' or ''spine''), derived from the notochord. This is a grouping including all animals apart from the chordate ...
s of various types, and hawks for
termite
Termites are small insects that live in colonies and have distinct castes (eusocial) and feed on wood or other dead plant matter. Termites comprise the infraorder Isoptera, or alternatively the epifamily Termitoidae, within the order Blattode ...
s in flight; it also eats fruits and berries. It probably takes similar overall food types as the other treepies.
The nest is a small, neat structure often placed in
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 ...
clumps, small trees or bushes at the edge of a clearing. There are usually 3-5 eggs laid.
The voice is described as varied but contains metallic notes as well as the chatter alarm call sounding similar to the other species.
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q382763
collared treepie
The collared treepie (''Dendrocitta frontalis''), also known as black-faced treepie or black-browed treepie, is an Asian treepie, a small perching bird of the crow family, Corvidae.
This bird is slightly smaller than a blue jay and has the typic ...
Birds of Bhutan
Birds of Northeast India
Birds of Myanmar
Birds of Vietnam
collared treepie
The collared treepie (''Dendrocitta frontalis''), also known as black-faced treepie or black-browed treepie, is an Asian treepie, a small perching bird of the crow family, Corvidae.
This bird is slightly smaller than a blue jay and has the typic ...