The black-breasted parrotbill (''Paradoxornis flavirostris'') is a long, large, thick-billed

parrotbill The parrotbills are a family, Paradoxornithidae, of passerine birds that are primarily native to East, Southeast and South Asia, with a single species in western North America, though feral populations exist elsewhere. They are generally small ...

with black patches on the head-sides and throat. Formerly placed with the

typical warbler The typical warblers are small birds belonging to the genus ''Sylvia'' in the "Old World warbler" (or sylviid warbler) family Sylviidae.Del Hoyo, J.; Elliot, A., & Christie, D. (editors). (2006). ''Handbook of the Birds of the World''. Volume 1 ...

s in the

Sylviidae Sylviidae is a family of passerine birds that includes the typical warblers ''Sylvia'', and closely related genus '' Curruca'', formerly included in ''Sylvia''. They are found in Eurasia and Africa, with the greatest diversity in the Mediterrane ...

, the parrotbills are now considered a distinct

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

, the

Paradoxornithidae The parrotbills are a family, Paradoxornithidae, of passerine birds that are primarily native to East, Southeast and South Asia, with a single species in western North America, though feral populations exist elsewhere. They are generally smal ...

. The bird is more or less brown all over, with an extensive black area on upper breast and uniform rufous-buff remainder of underparts. The similar

spot-breasted parrotbill The spot-breasted parrotbill (''Paradoxornis guttaticollis'') is a species of bird in the family Paradoxornithidae. It is found in Bangladesh, China, India, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam. References *Robson, C. (2007). Family Paradoxorni ...

, a close relative, has arrow-shaped spotting on breast and pale buff underparts. The voice is a gruff or , the song a rhythmic series, and . Alternatively, a higher-pitched is given. ''Paradoxornis flavirostris'' 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 Indian subcontinent and in modern times possibly the country of India, where it is known from the plains and foothills of the

Brahmaputra The Brahmaputra is a trans-boundary river which flows through Southwestern China, Northeastern India, and Bangladesh. It is known as Brahmaputra or Luit in Assamese, Yarlung Tsangpo in Tibetan, the Siang/Dihang River in Arunachali, and ...

valley in

Arunachal Pradesh Arunachal Pradesh (; ) is a States and union territories of India, state in northeast India. It was formed from the North-East Frontier Agency (NEFA) region, and India declared it as a state on 20 February 1987. Itanagar is its capital and la ...

and

Assam Assam (, , ) is a state in Northeast India, northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra Valley, Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . It is the second largest state in Northeast India, nor ...

. Historically, it was also recorded in

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

and possibly eastern

Nepal Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China Ch ...

. It used to be a fairly widespread and locally common species. There are, however, recent records from only three disjunct locations, one in Arunachal Pradesh and two in Assam (one in Manas National Park and another in Dibru-Saikhowa National Park).

Gallery

File:Black-breasted Parrotbill AMSM1523.jpg, Black-breasted parrotbill at

Manas National Park Manas National Park is a national park, Project Tiger reserve, and an elephant reserve in Assam, India. Located in the Himalayan foothills, it borders the Royal Manas National Park in Bhutan. The park is known for its rare and endangered ende ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

File:Black-breasted Parrotbill AMSM1556.jpg, Black-breasted parrotbill at

References

*Robson, C. (2007). Family Paradoxornithidae (Parrotbills) pp. 292–321 in; del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A. & Christie, D.A. eds. ''

Handbook of the Birds of the World The ''Handbook of the Birds of the World'' (HBW) is a multi-volume series produced by the Spanish publishing house Lynx Edicions in partnership with BirdLife International. It is the first handbook to cover every known living species of bird. ...

'', Vol. 12. Picathartes to Tits and Chickadees. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona.

black-breasted parrotbill The black-breasted parrotbill (''Paradoxornis flavirostris'') is a long, large, thick-billed parrotbill with black patches on the head-sides and throat. Formerly placed with the typical warblers in the Sylviidae, the parrotbills are now conside ...

Birds of Northeast India

{{Sylvioidea-stub