The pin-striped tit-babbler (''Mixornis gularis''), also known as the yellow-breasted babbler, is a species of bird in the

Old World babbler The Old World babblers or Timaliidae, are a family (biology), 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 g ...

family Timaliidae that is found in

South South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both west and east. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþa ...

and

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 ...

Taxonomy and systematics

The pin-striped tit-babbler was

formally described A species description is a formal scientific description of a newly encountered species, typically articulated through a scientific publication. Its purpose is to provide a clear description of a new species of organism and explain how it differ ...

in 1822 by the American naturalist

Thomas Horsfield Thomas Horsfield (May 12, 1773 – July 24, 1859) was an American physician and natural history, naturalist who worked extensively in Indonesia, describing numerous species of plants and animals from the region. He was later a curator of the Eas ...

based on a specimen collected in

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. ...

. He coined the

binomial name In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin grammatical forms, altho ...

''Timalia gularis''. The pin-striped tit-babbler was formerly placed in the genus '' Macronus'' but based on the results of a large

molecular phylogenetic Molecular phylogenetics () is the branch of phylogeny that analyzes genetic, hereditary molecular differences, predominantly in DNA sequences, to gain information on an organism's evolutionary relationships. From these analyses, it is possible to ...

study published in 2019, the species was moved to the genus '' Mixornis'' that had been introduced in 1842 by the English zoologist

Edward Blyth Edward Blyth (23 December 1810 – 27 December 1873) was an English zoologist who worked for most of his life in India as a curator of zoology at the Asiatic Society, Royal Asiatic Society of Bengal in Calcutta. He set about updating the museum ...

. The genus name combines the

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...

''mixis'' meaning "mixed" or "mingling" with ''ornis'' meaning "bird". The specific epithet ''gularis'' is

Modern Latin Neo-LatinSidwell, Keith ''Classical Latin-Medieval Latin-Neo Latin'' in ; others, throughout. (also known as New Latin and Modern Latin) is the style of written Latin used in original literary, scholarly, and scientific works, first in Italy d ...

meaning "-throated". The pin-striped tit-babbler belongs within a clade that includes the genera '' Dumetia'' and '' Timalia''. The species has also been split following a study by Nigel Collar to distinguish the morphologically distinct Bornean and Javan populations, which have since been renamed the

bold-striped tit-babbler The bold-striped tit-babbler (''Mixornis bornensis'') is a species of Old World babblerCollar, N. J. & Robson, C. 2007. Family Timaliidae (Babblers) Pp. 70 - 291 in; del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A. & Christie, D.A. eds. ''Handbook of the Birds of the ...

(''Mixornis bornensis''), from the rest of the pin-striped tit-babbler species complex. The following 13

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 ...

are recognized: * ''M. g. rubicapilla'' ( Tickell, 1833) – Nepal, Bhutan and northeast India to Bangladesh and east-central India * ''M. g. ticehursti''

Stresemann Stresemann is a German family name which may refer to: * Christina Stresemann (born 1957), German judge; daughter of Wolfgang Stresemann * Erwin Stresemann (1889 – 1972), German ornithologist * Gustav Stresemann Gustav Ernst Stresemann (; 10 ...

, 1940 – west Myanmar * ''M. g. sulphureus'' (Rippon, 1900) – eastern Myanmar, west Thailand and southwest

Yunnan Yunnan; is an inland Provinces of China, province in Southwestern China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 47.2 million (as of 2020). The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders the Chinese provinces ...

(south China) * ''M. g. lutescens'' Delacour, 1926 – southeast Yunnan (south China), north, northeast Thailand and north Indochina * ''M. g. kinneari'' Delacour & Jabouille, 1924 – central Vietnam * ''M. g. saraburiensis'' ( Deignan, 1956) – east-central Thailand and west Cambodia * ''M. g. versuricola'' Oberholser, 1922 – east Cambodia and south Vietnam * ''M. g. condorensis''

Robinson Robinson may refer to: People and names * Robinson (name) Fictional characters * Robinson Crusoe, the main character, and title of a novel by Daniel Defoe, published in 1719 Geography * Robinson projection, a map projection used since the 19 ...

, 1921 –

Con Son Island Con or CON may refer to: Places * Commonwealth of Nations, or CON, an association of primarily former British colonies * Concord Municipal Airport (IATA airport code CON), a public-use airport in Merrimack County, New Hampshire, United States * ...

(off south Vietnam) * ''M. g. connectens'' ( Kloss, 1918) – Tenasserim (southeast Myanmar), coastal Gulf of Thailand to central

Malay Peninsula The Malay Peninsula is located in Mainland Southeast Asia. The landmass runs approximately north–south, and at its terminus, it is the southernmost point of the Asian continental mainland. The area contains Peninsular Malaysia, Southern Tha ...

(includes ''chersonesophilus'') * ''M. g. archipelagicus'' Oberholser, 1922 –

Mergui Archipelago The Mergui Archipelago (also Myeik Archipelago or ''Myeik Kyunzu''; ) is located in far southern Myanmar (Burma) and is part of the Tanintharyi Region. It consists of around 800 islands, varying in size from very small to hundreds of square kilo ...

(off southwest Myanmar) * ''M. g. inveteratus'' Oberholser, 1922 – coastal islands off southeast Thailand and Cambodia * ''M. g. gularis'' ( Horsfield, 1822) – south Malay Peninsula, Sumatra,

Banyak Islands The Banyak Islands (sometimes spelled Banjak Islands) are a group of inhabited islands located between Simeulue and Nias off the western coast of Sumatra in Indonesia's Aceh Province. Surveys of the area approximate around 71 islands and addi ...

(west of north Sumatra) and

Batu Islands The Batu Islands are an archipelago of Indonesia located in the Indian Ocean, off the west coast of Sumatra, between Nias and Siberut. The three primary islands, of approximately equal size, are Pini, Tanahmasa, and Tanahbala. There are seven ...

(west of central Sumatra) * ''M. g. woodi'' Sharpe, 1877 –

Palawan Palawan (, ), officially the Province of Palawan (; ), is an archipelagic province of the Philippines that is located in the region of Mimaropa. It is the largest province in the country in terms of total area of . The capital and largest c ...

group (southwest Philippines)

Description

The species has a distinctive yellowish supercilium and rufous crown. The throat is yellowish with brown streaks. Call is a loud repeated ''chonk-chonk-chonk-chonk-chonk'' somewhat reminiscent of a

common tailorbird The common tailorbird (''Orthotomus sutorius'') is a songbird found across tropical Asia. Popular for its nest made of leaves "sewn" together and immortalized by Rudyard Kipling as ''Darzee'' in his ''Jungle Book'', it is a common resident in urb ...

. They forage in small flocks and creep and clamber in low vegetation. They breed in the pre-monsoon season from February to July and build a loose ball shaped nest made from grasses and leaves.

Distribution

The species is widely distributed and is found 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 ...

Bhutan Bhutan, officially the Kingdom of Bhutan, is a landlocked country in South Asia, in the Eastern Himalayas between China to the north and northwest and India to the south and southeast. With a population of over 727,145 and a territory of , ...

Brunei Brunei, officially Brunei Darussalam, is a country in Southeast Asia, situated on the northern coast of the island of Borneo. Apart from its coastline on the South China Sea, it is completely surrounded by the Malaysian state of Sarawak, with ...

Cambodia Cambodia, officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. It is bordered by Thailand to the northwest, Laos to the north, and Vietnam to the east, and has a coastline ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

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 ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

Laos Laos, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic (LPDR), is the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by Myanmar and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the southeast, and Thailand to the west and ...

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

Myanmar Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and has ...

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 ...

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

and

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

. In India, there are disjunct populations in southern India. This population was recorded by

Salim Ali Sálim Moizuddin Abdul Ali (12 November 1896 – 20 June 1987) was an Indian ornithologist and naturalist. Sometimes referred to as the "Birdman of India", Salim Ali was the first Indian to conduct systematic bird surveys across India and wrot ...

from Antharasanthe near the

Kabini The Kabini River is one of the major tributaries of the river Cauvery in southern India, It originates in Wayanad district of Kerala state by the confluence of the Panamaram River and the Mananthavady River. It flows eastward through Wayanad ...

reservoir. There were no records of the species from this area after the initial collection. The southern population was rediscovered from the Masinagudi area in

Mudumalai Mudumalai National Park is a national park in the Nilgiri Mountains in Tamil Nadu in southern India. It covers at an elevation range of in the Nilgiri District and shares boundaries with the states of Karnataka and Kerala. A part of this are ...

in 2004. Other populations are found in the northern

Eastern Ghats The Eastern Ghats is a mountain range that stretches along the East Coast of India, eastern coast of the Indian peninsula. Covering an area of , it traverses the states and union territories of India, states of Odisha, Telangana, Andhra Prade ...

References

pin-striped tit-babbler The pin-striped tit-babbler (''Mixornis gularis''), also known as the yellow-breasted babbler, is a species of bird in the Old World babbler family Timaliidae that is found in South Asia, South and Southeast Asia. Taxonomy and systematics The pi ...

Birds of Nepal Birds of India Birds of Eastern Himalaya Birds of Bangladesh Birds of Yunnan Birds of Southeast Asia Birds of Palawan

{{Timaliidae-stub