// Workers AI · dad joke modeWhat did the giant babax say? "I'm a big mouth.
| Giant babax | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Family: | Leiothrichidae |
| Genus: | Pterorhinus |
| Species: | P. waddelli |
| Binomial name | |
| Pterorhinus waddelli (Dresser, 1905) | |
| Synonyms | |
|
Ianthocincla waddelli | |
The giant babax (Pterorhinus waddelli) is a species of bird in the laughingthrush family Leiothrichidae, found in northeast India and southern Tibet. It prefers the low bushes at the edge of the southern Tibetan plateau,[2] but it can adapt to both dry and cold mountain habitats.[3] It is also commonly seen around villages and monasteries, where it feeds off scraps.[2]
Description
[edit]It is a bulky, long-tailed brown bird with a curved bill and dark streaks.[2] On average, it is 31–34 cm (12–13 in) long.[3] Its vocalizations vary between melodic flute-like notes and harsh jabbering ones.[2]
Threats
[edit]It is threatened by habitat loss.[2]
Diet
[edit]Its diet includes insects (Lepidoptera and Diptera) and berries in the summer, and crop seeds, berries, and plant rhizomes in the winter.[3]
Breeding
[edit]Its breeding season lasts from May to July.[3] It mainly nests in willows (Salix longistamina), Rosa sericea, Populus szechuanica, Cotoneaster microphyllus, and elm trees.[3] It prefers to nest in areas dense with trees, close to water but far from human settlements.[3]
Taxonomy
[edit]The giant babax was described by the English ornithologist Henry Dresser in 1905 from a specimen collected by the British explorer Laurence Waddell in the Yarlung Tsangpo river valley in Tibet.[4] Based on the results of a comprehensive molecular phylogenetic study of the Leiothrichidae that was published in 2018, the giant babax was placed in the resurrected genus Pterorhinus.[5][6]
References
[edit]- ↑ BirdLife International. (2024). "Pterorhinus waddelli". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2024 e.T22716512A247824820. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2024-2.RLTS.T22716512A247824820.en. Retrieved 17 February 2025.
- 1 2 3 4 5 "Giant Babax - eBird". ebird.org. Retrieved 2021-07-06.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 Shengling Zhou; et al. (2024). "Nest Characteristics and Nest Site Selection of Giant Babax in Lhasa".
- ↑ Dresser, Henry E. (2005). "Descriptions of three new species of birds obtained during the recent expedition to Lhasa". Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London. 1 (1): 54-55 [54 plate 4].
- ↑ Cibois, A.; Gelang, M.; Alström, P.; Pasquet, E.; Fjeldså, J.; Ericson, P.G.P.; Olsson, U. (2018). "Comprehensive phylogeny of the laughingthrushes and allies (Aves, Leiothrichidae) and a proposal for a revised taxonomy". Zoologica Scripta. 47 (4): 428–440. doi:10.1111/zsc.12296. S2CID 51883434.
- ↑ Gill, Frank; Donsker, David, eds. (2019). "Laughingthrushes and allies". World Bird List Version 9.1. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 18 January 2019.
- Collar, N. J.; Robson C. (2007). "Family Timaliidae (Babblers)". Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions. pp. 70–291.
External links
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