The grand rhabdornis (''Rhabdornis grandis''), also known as the long-billed rhabdornis or long-billed creeper, is a species of

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 ...

currently placed in the

starling Starlings are small to medium-sized passerine birds in the family Sturnidae. The Sturnidae are named for the genus ''Sturnus'', which in turn comes from the Latin word for starling, ''sturnus''. Many Asian species, particularly the larger ones, ...

family, Sturnidae. It 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 ...

Luzon Luzon (; ) is the largest and most populous island in the Philippines. Located in the northern portion of the Philippines archipelago, it is the economic and political center of the nation, being home to the country's capital city, Manila, as ...

Island in the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

. It is sometimes treated as a

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 ...

of the

stripe-breasted creeper The stripe-breasted rhabdornis (''Rhabdornis inornatus''), also known as the stripe-breasted creeper or plain-headed creeper, is a species of bird currently placed in the starling family, Sturnidae. It is endemic to the southern and central Phili ...

(''R. inornatus'').

Description

A medium-sized, long-billed bird with a white throat and belly, a brown back, rufous wings and tail, a black mask with a thin white eyebrow above, a gray crown, and brown sides broadly streaked white.

Habitat and Conservation Status

Its natural

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 tropical mid-elevation and high elevation

montane forest Montane ecosystems are found on the slopes of mountains. The alpine climate in these regions strongly affects the ecosystem because temperatures fall as elevation increases, causing the ecosystem to stratify. This stratification is a crucial f ...

. The IUCN lists it as a

Least-concern species 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 ...

but despite this the population is still said to be declining due to habitat loss and fragmentation.

References

grand rhabdornis The grand rhabdornis (''Rhabdornis grandis''), also known as the long-billed rhabdornis or long-billed creeper, is a species of bird currently placed in the starling family, Sturnidae. It is endemic to Luzon Island in the Philippines. It is somet ...

Birds of Luzon

Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Muscicapoidea-stub