Whistling-thrush

Whistling-thrushes
Formosan Whistling-thrush Myophonus insularis
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Subkingdom:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Turdidae
Genus:	Myophonus Temminck 1822
Species
See text.

The whistling-thrushes comprise a genus Myophonus (Myiophoneus^[1]) of the thrush family Turdidae.

They are all medium-sized mostly insectivorous or omnivorous birds. They are all brightly coloured species found in India and southeast Asia. The male is usually blue, and the females are either similar to the male or brown.

The brighter blue patches found on the shoulders and sometimes the head, of whistling thrushes, uniquely for a passerine, reflect strongly in the ultraviolet.^[2]

Many of the species are confined to single islands or countries.

Species:

• Sri Lanka Whistling-thrush, Myophonus blighi, found on Sri Lanka
• Shiny Whistling-thrush, Myophonus melanurus, Sumatra
• Chestnut-winged Whistling-thrush, Myophonus castaneus, Sumatra
• Javan Whistling-thrush Myophonus glaucinus, Java
• Bornean Whistling-thrush Myophonus borneensis, Borneo
• Malayan Whistling-thrush, Myophonus robinsoni, peninsular Malaysia
• Malabar Whistling-thrush, Myophonus horsfieldii, peninsular India
• Formosan Whistling-thrush or Taiwan Whistling-thrush, Myophonus insularis, Taiwan
• Blue Whistling-thrush, Myophonus caeruleus, from Central Asia east to China and south to the Sundas

Javan, Bornean and Chestnut-winged were formerly lumped as Sunda Whistling-thrush, but split by Collar (2004).

Habits

Whistling Thrushes are mostly seen in hilly areas except during winter when they may descend to streams near the plains. They specialize in feeding on snails and their strong hooked bills are used to deal with them. They may choose a particular rock on which they crack the shells.^[3]

The nests are usually in crevices of rocks and boulders close to water. The cup nests have moss and twigs and is lined with roots and leaves. The eggs are usually three and sometimes four, elongate with a gray ground colour and marked with speckles.^[3]

Notes

1. ^ Delacour 1942 (Auk 146-264) writes "the proper spelling is Myiophoneus Temminck and Laugier, 1822 Myophonus T. and L., 1822 is an orthographic error, as well as Myophoneus in their tables, x859, while Myiophonus Agassiz, 1846, is an unnecessary emendation."
2. ^ Staffan Andersson (1996). "Bright Ultraviolet Colouration in the Asian Whistling-Thrushes (Myiophonus spp.)". Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 263 (1372): 843–848. doi:10.1098/rspb.1996.0124. 
3. ^ ^{a b} Delacour 1942

References

• Thrushes by Clement and Hathaway, ISBN 0-7136-3940-7
• Collar, N. J. (2004). "Species limits in some Indonesian thrushes". Forktail 20: 71–87. 
• Delacour, J. (1942). "THE WHISTLING THRUSHES (GENUS Myiophoneus)". Auk 59: 246–264.