Craig Brelsford
Founder, shanghaibirding.com
If you know of sites, particularly in China, where parrotbills and sylviid babblers tend to sing, then Nick Brown wants to hear from you. Read below the email Nick wrote me. Fill out the form Nick links to in the email. Write Nick: nb822@ic.ac.uk
Dear Craig and Elaine,
I hope this email finds you well. My name is Nick Brown, I am currently researching the evolution of song in a monophyletic clade of oscine passerines, Paradoxornithidae and Sylviidae, under Diego Llusia at Universidad Autónoma de Madrid. As part of my research, I aim to build a dataset of ‘singing sites’, which categorises the locations within which species tend to sing. This dataset will be used to test the Acoustic Adaptation Hypothesis (AAH).
For European sylviid warblers, data was easy to find. However, for most paradoxornithids (parrotbills, some babblers and fulvettas), data is either scattered or unavailable. I therefore made a form to gather information regarding said species’ singing behaviour from experts. It is short and only contains 7 multiple choice questions per species, respondents have the option to provide information for as many species as they desire.
As a long time reader of your excellent blog, which proved essential for my identification preparation to go to Hong Kong last year (I am particularly grateful for your cuckoo identification articles), I was wondering if you could kindly provide information for any paradoxornithids which you are familiar with, of particular interest are Chinese endemic and near-endemic species. Information for just one species would be of great help! Attached, for your reference, see a list of species for which I am looking for information.
Here is the link to the form: link.
Finally, if you know of any other researchers, park rangers, bird tour-guides or hobbyist birdwatchers with experience or expertise in Sylviidae or Paradoxornithidae, I would be grateful if you could share their contact details or pass along the survey.
Thank you so much for your time and help. Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you need any further information.
All the best,
Nick Brown
Below, the species in which Nick is most interested. Hyperlinks connect to entries in my Photographic Field Guide to the Birds of China, published in its entirety on this website.
PARADOXORNITHIDAE
Fire-tailed Myzornis Myzornis pyrrhoura
Rufous-tailed Babbler Moupinia poecilotis
Golden-breasted Fulvetta Lioparus chrysotis
Yellow-eyed Babbler Chrysomma sinense
Tarim Babbler Rhopophilus albosuperciliaris
Beijing Babbler Rhopophilus pekinensis
Spectacled Fulvetta Fulvetta ruficapilla
Indochinese Fulvetta Fulvetta danisi
Chinese Fulvetta Fulvetta striaticollis
Brown-throated Fulvetta Fulvetta ludlowi
White-browed Fulvetta Fulvetta vinipectus
Manipur Fulvetta Fulvetta manipurensis
Grey-hooded Fulvetta Fulvetta cinereiceps
Taiwan Fulvetta Fulvetta formosana
Reed Parrotbill Paradoxornis heudei
Spot-breasted Parrotbill Paradoxornis guttaticollis
Great Parrotbill Paradoxornis aemodius
Brown Parrotbill Paradoxornis unicolor
Three-toed Parrotbill Paradoxornis paradoxus
Grey-headed Parrotbill Paradoxornis gularis
Black-headed Parrotbill Paradoxornis margaritae
White-breasted Parrotbill Paradoxornis ruficeps
Rufous-headed Parrotbill Paradoxornis bakeri
Short-tailed Parrotbill Suthora davidiana
Fulvous Parrotbill Suthora fulvifrons
Black-throated Parrotbill Suthora nipalensis
Golden Parrotbill Suthora verreauxi
Pale-billed Parrotbill Suthora atrosuperciliaris
Spectacled Parrotbill Suthora conspicillata
Grey-hooded Parrotbill Suthora zappeyi
Eye-ringed Parrotbill Suthora ricketti
Brown-winged Parrotbill Suthora brunnea
Vinous-throated Parrotbill Suthora webbiana
Ashy-throated Parrotbill Suthora alphonsiana
Rusty-throated Parrotbill Suthora przewalskii
SYLVIIDAE
Dohrn’s Thrush-Babbler Sylvia dohrni
Abyssinian Catbird Sylvia galinieri
Bush Blackcap Sylvia nigricapillus
African Hill Babbler Sylvia abyssinica
Rwenzori Hill Babbler Sylvia atriceps
Barred Warbler Curruca nisoria
Layard’s Warbler Curruca layardi
Banded Parisoma Curruca boehmi
Lesser Whitethroat Curruca curruca curruca
Hume’s Lesser Whitethroat Curruca curruca althaea
Desert (Xinjiang) Whitethroat Curruca (curruca) minula
Yemen Warbler Curruca buryi
Arabian Warbler Curruca leucomelaena
Western Orphean Warbler Curruca hortensis
Eastern Orphean Warbler Curruca crassirostris
African Desert Warbler Curruca deserti
Asian Desert Warbler Curruca nana
Menetries’s Warbler Curruca mystacea
Ruppell’s Warbler Curruca ruppeli
Moltoni’s Warbler Curruca subalpina
Eastern Subalpine Warbler Curruca cantillans
Western Subalpine Warbler Curruca iberiae
Common Whitethroat Curruca communis
Spectacled Warbler Curruca conspicillata
Dartford Warbler Curruca undata
