The blue-winged leafbird (''Chloropsis moluccensis'') is a species of

leafbird The leafbirds (Chloropseidae) are a family of small passerine bird species found in the Indian Subcontinent and Southeast Asia. They were formerly grouped with the ioras and fairy-bluebirds in the family Irenidae. As presently defined, the leaf ...

found in forest and second growth throughout

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...

as far east as

Borneo Borneo () is the List of islands by area, third-largest island in the world, with an area of , and population of 23,053,723 (2020 national censuses). Situated at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, it is one of the Greater Sunda ...

and as far south as southern

Sumatra Sumatra () is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the list of islands by area, sixth-largest island in the world at 482,286.55 km2 (182,812 mi. ...

. It previously included

Jerdon's leafbird Jerdon's leafbird (''Chloropsis jerdoni'') is a species of leafbird found in forest and woodland in India and Sri Lanka. Its name honours Thomas C. Jerdon. It has traditionally been considered a subspecies of the blue-winged leafbird (''C. cochi ...

(''C. jerdoni'') from the

Indian Subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a physiographic region of Asia below the Himalayas which projects into the Indian Ocean between the Bay of Bengal to the east and the Arabian Sea to the west. It is now divided between Bangladesh, India, and Pakista ...

, and the

Bornean leafbird The Bornean leafbird (''Chloropsis kinabaluensis''), also known as the Kinabalu leafbird, is a species of bird in the family Chloropseidae. It is found in humid forest in Borneo, to which it is endemic (elevated areas, including the Meratus Mo ...

(''C. kinabaluensis'') from northern Borneo as

subspecies In Taxonomy (biology), biological classification, subspecies (: subspecies) is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (Morphology (biology), morpholog ...

, but differs from both in measurements and

morphology Morphology, from the Greek and meaning "study of shape", may refer to: Disciplines *Morphology (archaeology), study of the shapes or forms of artifacts *Morphology (astronomy), study of the shape of astronomical objects such as nebulae, galaxies, ...

, with Jerdon's lacking any blue to the

flight feathers Flight feathers (''Pennae volatus'') are the long, stiff, asymmetrically shaped, but symmetrically paired pennaceous feathers on the wings or tail of a bird; those on the wings are called remiges (), singular remex (), while those on the tai ...

, and Bornean having a distinctive male-like female plumage. The Javan leafbird (''C. cochinchinensis''), which 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 ...

Java Java is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea (a part of Pacific Ocean) to the north. With a population of 156.9 million people (including Madura) in mid 2024, proje ...

, was also formerly grouped with the species, but more recent phylogenetic studies have split both. The distribution of the blue-winged and the Bornean leafbird are known to approach each other, but there is no evidence of

intergradation In zoology, intergradation is the way in which two distinct subspecies are connected via areas where populations are found that have the characteristics of both. There are two types of intergradation: primary and secondary intergradation. Primary ...

The male is green-bodied with a yellow-tinged head, black face and throat. It has a blue moustachial line. The female differs in that it has a greener head and blue throat, and young birds are like the female but without the blue throat patch. It is common to fairly common throughout most of its range, and therefore considered to be of

least concern 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 ...

BirdLife International BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding i ...

. The superficially similar

golden-fronted leafbird The golden-fronted leafbird (''Chloropsis aurifrons'') is a species of leafbird. It is found from the Indian subcontinent and south-western China, to south-east Asia and Sumatra. It builds its bird nest, nest in a tree, laying 2-3 bird egg, eggs. ...

lacks blue in the flight feathers and tail, and has a golden forehead. As in other leafbirds, the call of the blue-winged leafbird consists of a rich mixture of imitations of the calls of various other species of birds.

References

External links

Blue-winged leafbird videos, photos & sounds
on the Internet Bird Collection {{Taxonbar, from=Q31874662 Chloropsis Birds of Northeast India Birds of Southeast Asia Taxa named by George Robert Gray Birds described in 1831