The yellow-throated leafbird (''Chloropsis palawanensis'') is a species of

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...

in the family Chloropseidae. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only 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 foun ...

to the

Palawan Palawan (, ), officially the Province of Palawan (; ), is an archipelagic province of the Philippines that is located in the region of Mimaropa. It is the largest province in the country in terms of total area of . The capital and largest c ...

in the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

. Its natural

habitat In ecology, habitat refers to the array of resources, 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 manifestation of its ...

is tropical moist lowland forest. Along with the

Philippine leafbird The Philippine leafbird (''Chloropsis flavipennis'') is a species of bird in the family Chloropseidae. It is endemic to the Philippines. It is found in the islands of Mindanao, Leyte, Samar and Cebu. Its natural habitat is tropical moist lowlan ...

, it is one of the two endemic leafbirds in the country.

Description and taxonomy

Ebird describes it as "A medium-sized bird of lowland forest canopy and edge on Palawan and neighboring islands. Overall bright green, paler below, with a yellow throat and upper chest and a blue eye-ring, shoulder, edge to the wing, and short line down from the base of the bill. Note the black bill, wingtips, and legs. No other green birds of this size occur in its range. Voice includes a varied whistled song." It is slightly smaller than the

and is generally more colorful with its bright yellow throat and blue lores and edges of its wing. This is monotypic and has no subspecies.

Ecology and behavior

Typically forages alone but also joins mixed-species flocks, often with bulbuls, foraging for fruits and seeds. No information known about its breeding habits.

Habitat and conservation status

Its habitat is primary lowland forest but it does occasionally visit secondary growth. It is assessed as

least-concern species A least-concern species is a species that has been evaluated and categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as not being a focus of wildlife conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wil ...

under the

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the status ...

. However,

's forests are under threat due to

illegal logging Illegal logging is the harvest, transportation, purchase, or sale of timber in violation of laws. The harvesting procedure itself may be illegal, including using corrupt means to gain access to forests; extraction without permission, or from a p ...

, deforestation, land conversion and mining. The whole of

was designated as a Biosphere Reserve; however, protection and enforcement of laws has been difficult and these threats still continue. It occurs in just one protected area in the Iwahig Prison and Penal Farm.

References

yellow-throated leafbird Birds of Palawan Endemic birds of the Philippines yellow-throated leafbird Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{passeri-stub