Ashy-throated Parrotbill
Encyclopedia
The Ashy-throated Parrotbill, Paradoxornis alphonsianus, is a songbird
. In old sources, it may be called Alphonse's Crow-tit; though superficially resembling a tit it is not a member of the Paridae. The native range
of this species
extends from south-west China
to northern Vietnam
, and it might have become naturalised in one area in Italy
.
-coloured parrotbill
with the large bill typical of these birds. The specific epithet commemorates the French ornithologist Alphonse Milne-Edwards
.
Formerly placed in a distinct parrotbill family
Paradoxornithidae or with the Old World babbler
s in the Timaliidae or the tits and chickadees in the Paridae, they are now included with the typical warbler
s (Sylvia) in the Sylviidae
.
They might be less close to the Great Parrotbill
(Conostoma oemodium) – which was also in the "Paradoxornithidae" – than to Chrysomma
, or to the fulvetta
s (Fulvetta) which were often included in the wastebin genus Alcippe
. Another relative might be the Wrentit
(Chamaea fasciata), the only known American
member of the Sylviidae
in the modern circumscription. The former two, and occasionally also the Wrentit, were traditionally considered Old World babblers.
Together with the other lineages of parrotbills, these and the Golden-breasted Fulvetta
(Lioparus chrysotis) and White-browed Chinese Warbler
(Rhopophilus pekinensis) form an Asian counterpart to the westward radiation of the typical warblers. Rather than two genera – Paradoxornis and the monotypic
Conostoma –, the parrotbills are better considered several independent lineages which show pronounced convergent evolution
, due to adaptation
to reedbed habitat and a more granivorous diet than their skulking warbler
-like ancestor. In this case, the Ashy-throated Parrotbill would probably be assigned to genus Sinoparadoxornis.
s was first discovered in northern Italy
in 1995, at the Riserva naturale Palude Brabbia (Brabbia Swamp Nature Reserve), between Cazzago Brabbia
on Lago di Varese and Varano Borghi
on Lago di Comabbio
. In March 1998, 21 individuals were captured and photographed, and provisionally identified as Ashy-throated Parrotbills. It is not entirely clear, however, whether the birds are indeed P. alphonsianus, its close relative the P. webbianus (Vinous-throated Parrotbill
), both species
, or even hybrids between them (as are known from their natural range). While they do not seem to be Brown-winged Parrotbill
s (P. brunneus, another close relative), certain identification to species may be impossible without analysis of both nDNA and mtDNA sequence
data.
The population is believed to originate from birds escaping from a nearby bird-trader. By 1999, the number of birds in the swamp had grown to at least a hundred individuals; in December 1998, the parrotbills were also observed in two localities on the Lago di Varese. By the early 21st century, the birds are well-established as resident breeders. They are the only self-sustaining parrotbill population found in Europe
, as it was discovered that the Bearded Reedling (Panurus biarmicus) – long believed to be an aberrant parrotbill – is actually a distinct lineage with no known relatives among the Passerida
.
n relatives (the typical warbler
s), these East Asia
n birds are small omnivore
s adapted to living in reed bed
s. In its native range, the Ashy-throated Parrotbill inhabits bamboo
stands and areas with tall grass
es. The parrotbill
s in Brabbia Swamp Nature Reserve inhabit Common Reed (Phragmites australis) beds and drier land overgrown with Meadowsweet
(Filipendula ulmaria), Grey Willow (Salix cinerea) and Giant Goldenrod (Solidago gigantea).
It feeds on arthropod
s, seed
s and bud
s; in winter, the Italian birds seem to sustain themselves on insect
s that hibernate in reed stalks. As in its relatives in (sub
)genus
Sinoparadoxornis, its eggs
are small by parrotbill standards, whitish- to light-blue and unspotted.
This bird will disappear if wetland
s are drained, but its range is considerable and much of its habitat
is remote and little accessed. It is thus considered a Species of Least Concern
by the IUCN.
Songbird
A songbird is a bird belonging to the suborder Passeri of the perching birds . Another name that is sometimes seen as scientific or vernacular name is Oscines, from Latin oscen, "a songbird"...
. In old sources, it may be called Alphonse's Crow-tit; though superficially resembling a tit it is not a member of the Paridae. The native range
Range (biology)
In biology, the range or distribution of a species is the geographical area within which that species can be found. Within that range, dispersion is variation in local density.The term is often qualified:...
of this species
Species
In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...
extends from south-west China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
to northern Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
, and it might have become naturalised in one area in Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
.
Description and systematics
This is a medium-sized tawnyTawny (color)
Tawny is a yellowish brown color. The word means "tan-colored," from Anglo-Norman tauné "associated with the brownish-yellow of tanned leather," from Old French tané "to tan hides," from Medieval Latin tannare, from tannum "crushed oak bark," used in tanning leather, probably from a Celtic source...
-coloured parrotbill
Parrotbill
The parrotbills are a group of peculiar birds native to East and Southeast Asia, though feral populations are known from elsewhere. They are generally small, long-tailed birds which inhabit reedbeds and similar habitat. They feed mainly on seeds, e.g. of grasses, to which their bill, as the name...
with the large bill typical of these birds. The specific epithet commemorates the French ornithologist Alphonse Milne-Edwards
Alphonse Milne-Edwards
Alphonse Milne-Edwards was a French mammalologist, ornithologist and carcinologist. He was English in origin, the son of Henri Milne-Edwards and grandson of Bryan Edwards, a Jamaican planter who settled at Bruges .Milne-Edwards obtained a medical degree in 1859 and became assistant to his father...
.
Formerly placed in a distinct parrotbill family
Family (biology)
In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...
Paradoxornithidae or with the Old World babbler
Old World babbler
The Old World babblers or timaliids are a large family of mostly Old World passerine birds. They are rather diverse in size and coloration, but are characterised by soft fluffy plumage. These are birds of tropical areas, with the greatest variety in Southeast Asia and the Indian Subcontinent...
s in the Timaliidae or the tits and chickadees in the Paridae, they are now included with the typical warbler
Typical warbler
The typical warblers are small birds belonging to the genus Sylvia in the "Old World warbler" family Sylviidae. There are 28 species currently included in the genus, including five species formerly treated in the genus Parisoma, a treatment which left Sylvia paraphyletic...
s (Sylvia) in the Sylviidae
Sylviidae
Sylviidae is a family of passerine birds that was part of an assemblage known as the Old World warblers. The family was formerly a wastebin taxon with over 400 species of bird in over 70 genera. The family was poorly defined with many characteristics shared with other families...
.
They might be less close to the Great Parrotbill
Great Parrotbill
The Great Parrotbill is a bird species often placed with the Old World babblers or in a distinct family Paradoxornithidae, but it actually seems to belong to the Sylviidae. Its genus Conostoma is monotypic.It is found in Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, and Nepal.-References:* BirdLife...
(Conostoma oemodium) – which was also in the "Paradoxornithidae" – than to Chrysomma
Chrysomma
Chrysomma is a songbird genus. Long believed to be Timaliidae , they are actually quite closely related to the typical warblers and even closer to the parrotbills, and therefore a member of the family Sylviidae.Species are:...
, or to the fulvetta
Fulvetta
Fulvetta is a songbird genus. Originally proposed in 1877, it was recently reestablished for the typical fulvettas, which were long included with their presumed relatives in the Timaliidae genus Alcippe...
s (Fulvetta) which were often included in the wastebin genus Alcippe
Alcippe (bird)
Alcippe is a genus of birds in the Timaliidae family. It used to be a catchall for the "fulvettas", but has been recently split into 5 independent genera: Alcippe, Schoeniparus, Fulvetta, Pseudominla and Lioparus....
. Another relative might be the Wrentit
Wrentit
The Wrentit is a small bird that lives in chaparral and bushland. It is the only species in the genus Chamaea....
(Chamaea fasciata), the only known American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
member of the Sylviidae
Sylviidae
Sylviidae is a family of passerine birds that was part of an assemblage known as the Old World warblers. The family was formerly a wastebin taxon with over 400 species of bird in over 70 genera. The family was poorly defined with many characteristics shared with other families...
in the modern circumscription. The former two, and occasionally also the Wrentit, were traditionally considered Old World babblers.
Together with the other lineages of parrotbills, these and the Golden-breasted Fulvetta
Golden-breasted Fulvetta
The Golden-breasted "Fulvetta" is a species of songbird found in Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, Nepal, and Vietnam...
(Lioparus chrysotis) and White-browed Chinese Warbler
White-browed Chinese Warbler
The Chinese Hill Warbler , also known as the White-browed Chinese Warbler or Chinese Bush-dweller, is a species of bird in the monotypic genus Rhopophilus. Its relationships are uncertain and it has been placed in the families Cisticolidae, Timaliidae or Sylviidae...
(Rhopophilus pekinensis) form an Asian counterpart to the westward radiation of the typical warblers. Rather than two genera – Paradoxornis and the monotypic
Monotypic
In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group with only one biological type. The term's usage differs slightly between botany and zoology. The term monotypic has a separate use in conservation biology, monotypic habitat, regarding species habitat conversion eliminating biodiversity and...
Conostoma –, the parrotbills are better considered several independent lineages which show pronounced convergent evolution
Convergent evolution
Convergent evolution describes the acquisition of the same biological trait in unrelated lineages.The wing is a classic example of convergent evolution in action. Although their last common ancestor did not have wings, both birds and bats do, and are capable of powered flight. The wings are...
, due to adaptation
Adaptation
An adaptation in biology is a trait with a current functional role in the life history of an organism that is maintained and evolved by means of natural selection. An adaptation refers to both the current state of being adapted and to the dynamic evolutionary process that leads to the adaptation....
to reedbed habitat and a more granivorous diet than their skulking warbler
Warbler
There are a number of Passeriformes called "warblers". They are not particularly closely related, but share some characteristics, such as being fairly small, vocal and insectivorous....
-like ancestor. In this case, the Ashy-throated Parrotbill would probably be assigned to genus Sinoparadoxornis.
Possible naturalisation in Italy
A population of parrotbillParrotbill
The parrotbills are a group of peculiar birds native to East and Southeast Asia, though feral populations are known from elsewhere. They are generally small, long-tailed birds which inhabit reedbeds and similar habitat. They feed mainly on seeds, e.g. of grasses, to which their bill, as the name...
s was first discovered in northern Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
in 1995, at the Riserva naturale Palude Brabbia (Brabbia Swamp Nature Reserve), between Cazzago Brabbia
Cazzago Brabbia
Cazzago Brabbia is a comune in the province of Varese, in Lombardy....
on Lago di Varese and Varano Borghi
Varano Borghi
Varano Borghi is a comune in the Province of Varese in the Italian region Lombardy, located about 50 km northwest of Milan and about 12 km southwest of Varese. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 2,242 and an area of 3.3 km².Varano Borghi borders the following...
on Lago di Comabbio
Lago di Comabbio
Lago di Comabbio is a lake in the Province of Varese, Lombardy, Italy. At an elevation of 243 m, its surface area is 3.4 km²....
. In March 1998, 21 individuals were captured and photographed, and provisionally identified as Ashy-throated Parrotbills. It is not entirely clear, however, whether the birds are indeed P. alphonsianus, its close relative the P. webbianus (Vinous-throated Parrotbill
Vinous-throated Parrotbill
The Vinous-throated Parrotbill is a species of bird in the Timaliidae family. It is found in China, Japan, North Korea, South Korea, Mongolia, Russia, Taiwan, and Vietnam...
), both species
Species
In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...
, or even hybrids between them (as are known from their natural range). While they do not seem to be Brown-winged Parrotbill
Brown-winged Parrotbill
The Brown-winged Parrotbill is a bird species often placed with the Old World babblers or in a distinct family Paradoxornithidae, but it actually seems to belong to the Sylviidae....
s (P. brunneus, another close relative), certain identification to species may be impossible without analysis of both nDNA and mtDNA sequence
DNA sequence
The sequence or primary structure of a nucleic acid is the composition of atoms that make up the nucleic acid and the chemical bonds that bond those atoms. Because nucleic acids, such as DNA and RNA, are unbranched polymers, this specification is equivalent to specifying the sequence of...
data.
The population is believed to originate from birds escaping from a nearby bird-trader. By 1999, the number of birds in the swamp had grown to at least a hundred individuals; in December 1998, the parrotbills were also observed in two localities on the Lago di Varese. By the early 21st century, the birds are well-established as resident breeders. They are the only self-sustaining parrotbill population found in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, as it was discovered that the Bearded Reedling (Panurus biarmicus) – long believed to be an aberrant parrotbill – is actually a distinct lineage with no known relatives among the Passerida
Passerida
Passerida is under the Sibley-Ahlquist taxonomy, one of two "parvorders" contained within the suborder Passeri...
.
Ecology
Contrary to their western EurasiaEurasia
Eurasia is a continent or supercontinent comprising the traditional continents of Europe and Asia ; covering about 52,990,000 km2 or about 10.6% of the Earth's surface located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres...
n relatives (the typical warbler
Typical warbler
The typical warblers are small birds belonging to the genus Sylvia in the "Old World warbler" family Sylviidae. There are 28 species currently included in the genus, including five species formerly treated in the genus Parisoma, a treatment which left Sylvia paraphyletic...
s), these East Asia
East Asia
East Asia or Eastern Asia is a subregion of Asia that can be defined in either geographical or cultural terms...
n birds are small omnivore
Omnivore
Omnivores are species that eat both plants and animals as their primary food source...
s adapted to living in reed bed
Reed bed
Reed beds are natural habitats found in floodplains, waterlogged depressions andestuaries. Reed beds are part of a succession from young reed colonising open water or wet ground through a gradation of increasingly dry ground...
s. In its native range, the Ashy-throated Parrotbill inhabits bamboo
Bamboo
Bamboo is a group of perennial evergreens in the true grass family Poaceae, subfamily Bambusoideae, tribe Bambuseae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family....
stands and areas with tall grass
Grass
Grasses, or more technically graminoids, are monocotyledonous, usually herbaceous plants with narrow leaves growing from the base. They include the "true grasses", of the Poaceae family, as well as the sedges and the rushes . The true grasses include cereals, bamboo and the grasses of lawns ...
es. The parrotbill
Parrotbill
The parrotbills are a group of peculiar birds native to East and Southeast Asia, though feral populations are known from elsewhere. They are generally small, long-tailed birds which inhabit reedbeds and similar habitat. They feed mainly on seeds, e.g. of grasses, to which their bill, as the name...
s in Brabbia Swamp Nature Reserve inhabit Common Reed (Phragmites australis) beds and drier land overgrown with Meadowsweet
Meadowsweet
Filipendula ulmaria, commonly known as Meadowsweet, is a perennial herb in the family Rosaceae that grows in damp meadows. It is native throughout most of Europe and Western Asia...
(Filipendula ulmaria), Grey Willow (Salix cinerea) and Giant Goldenrod (Solidago gigantea).
It feeds on arthropod
Arthropod
An arthropod is an invertebrate animal having an exoskeleton , a segmented body, and jointed appendages. Arthropods are members of the phylum Arthropoda , and include the insects, arachnids, crustaceans, and others...
s, seed
Seed
A seed is a small embryonic plant enclosed in a covering called the seed coat, usually with some stored food. It is the product of the ripened ovule of gymnosperm and angiosperm plants which occurs after fertilization and some growth within the mother plant...
s and bud
Bud
In botany, a bud is an undeveloped or embryonic shoot and normally occurs in the axil of a leaf or at the tip of the stem. Once formed, a bud may remain for some time in a dormant condition, or it may form a shoot immediately. Buds may be specialized to develop flowers or short shoots, or may have...
s; in winter, the Italian birds seem to sustain themselves on insect
Insect
Insects are a class of living creatures within the arthropods that have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body , three pairs of jointed legs, compound eyes, and two antennae...
s that hibernate in reed stalks. As in its relatives in (sub
Subgenus
In biology, a subgenus is a taxonomic rank directly below genus.In zoology, a subgeneric name can be used independently or included in a species name, in parentheses, placed between the generic name and the specific epithet: e.g. the Tiger Cowry of the Indo-Pacific, Cypraea tigris Linnaeus, which...
)genus
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
Sinoparadoxornis, its eggs
Egg (biology)
An egg is an organic vessel in which an embryo first begins to develop. In most birds, reptiles, insects, molluscs, fish, and monotremes, an egg is the zygote, resulting from fertilization of the ovum, which is expelled from the body and permitted to develop outside the body until the developing...
are small by parrotbill standards, whitish- to light-blue and unspotted.
This bird will disappear if wetland
Wetland
A wetland is an area of land whose soil is saturated with water either permanently or seasonally. Wetlands are categorised by their characteristic vegetation, which is adapted to these unique soil conditions....
s are drained, but its range is considerable and much of its habitat
Habitat
* Habitat , a place where a species lives and grows*Human habitat, a place where humans live, work or play** Space habitat, a space station intended as a permanent settlement...
is remote and little accessed. It is thus considered a Species of Least Concern
Least Concern
Least Concern is an IUCN category assigned to extant taxon or lower taxa which have been evaluated but do not qualify for any other category. As such they do not qualify as threatened, Near Threatened, or Conservation Dependent...
by the IUCN.