Gould's shortwing (''Heteroxenicus stellatus'') is a small species of passerine bird in the family Muscicapidae. It is found in the Himalayas (mainly Uttarakhand, Sikkim and Bhutan), Yunnan and northern parts of

Myanmar 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 C. Wells, Joh ...

and Vietnam. It breeds in the eastern Himalayas in rocky areas above the tree-line and winters at lower altitude in wooded valleys. Gould's shortwing is the only species in the genus ''Heteroxenicus''. It was formerly placed in the genus ''

Brachypteryx ''Brachypteryx'' is a genus of passerine birds containing six species known as shortwings, that occurs in southeast Asia. Shortwings are small birds with long legs, finely pointed bills, short tails and short rounded wings. They are shy elusiv ...

''. The common name commemorates the English ornithologist and bird artist John Gould (1804-1881).

Taxonomy

The first formal description of Gould's shortwing was by the English ornithologist and bird artist John Gould in 1868 from a specimen collected in Nepal. He chose the

binomial name In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

''Brachypteryx stellatus''. Gould's shortwing is the only species in the genus ''Heteroxenicus''. It was formerly placed in the genus

and was assigned to the thrush family Turdidae. The genus ''Heteroxenicus'' had been introduced by Richard Bowdler Sharpe in 1902. The genus name ''Heteroxenicus'' combines the classical Greek words ''heteros'' for "different" and ''xenikos'' for "stranger". The specific epithet ''stellata'' is from the Latin word ''stellatus'' meaning "starry" or "set with stars". There are two subspecies: * ''H. s. stellatus'' ( Gould, 1868) – central Himalayas to south China and northeast Myanmar * ''H. s. fuscus'' ( Delacour & Jabouille, 1930) – northwest Vietnam

Description

Gould's shortwing is in length with a weight of . It is chestnut coloured above and dark grey below with small white spots or stars on its belly. It has long brown legs and a black bill. The sexes are similar. Nothing is known about the nest or the eggs.

References

External links

Xeno-canto: audio recordings of Gould's shortwing
Birds of North India Birds of Bhutan Birds of Myanmar Birds of Vietnam Birds of Yunnan Fauna of Sikkim

Gould's shortwing Gould's shortwing (''Heteroxenicus stellatus'') is a small species of passerine bird in the family Muscicapidae. It is found in the Himalayas (mainly Uttarakhand, Sikkim and Bhutan), Yunnan and northern parts of Myanmar and Vietnam. It breeds in ...

Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Muscicapidae-stub