Sensational bird finding in China

Adult male Blackthroat Luscinia obscura, Foping National Nature Reserve, Shaanxi, China, June 2011. Photo: © Per Alström<br>

Seven singing males were observed in Foping and seven more in Changqing National Nature Reserves – which almost equals the total number of individuals observed of this species since its discovery in the late 19th century. Nearly all of the birds were on mountain slopes at 2400–2500 meters above sea level in large, dense expanses of bamboo in open coniferous and mixed coniferous-broadleaved forest.

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, about 10 Blackthroats were collected at two localities in the Gansu and Shaanxi provinces during the breeding season (May–August). Since then, there have been only a handful of mostly unconfirmed records from Sichuan and Yunnan provinces, China, from presumed breeding areas or on migration, including a few individuals found in bird markets [1]. The most recent record is of a bird that was photographed on migration in the campus of the Sichuan University on 2 May 2011 [2]. In addition, one individual has been caught in Thailand in winter.

The Blackthroat resembles a European Robin Erithacus rubecula in size and
general appearance, but with a jet black throat and breast in the male. The female is considered to have a pale brownish throat and breast, although no females definitely attributable to this species have been observed.

The song is distinctive, and consists of rather short, quick, varied strophes that include both whistles and harsh notes. The strophes are delivered at a fairly slow, even pace. Several individuals were sound recorded in 2011, and two of these recordings are now made freely available. This will facilitate future surveys of this enigmatic bird species.

Contacts
Dr Per Alström, Swedish Species Information Centre, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden. Email: per.alstrom@slu.se Tel: +46 70 454 6965.

http://www.slu.se/sv/centrumbildningar-och-projekt/artdatabanken/kontakt1/personal-a-o/per-alstrom/per-alstroms-forskning/

Dr Gang Song, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China. Email: songgang@ioz.ac.cn Tel: +86 (0)10 64807188.

Mr Yong-wen Zhang, Changqing National Nature Reserve, Huayang, China. Email: redbirch25@163.com Tel: +86 159 918 365 96.

Link to song of male Blackthroat Luscinia obscura, Foping National Nature Reserve, Shaanxi, China, 8 June 2011. Per Alström:

Link to song of male Blackthroat Luscinia obscura, Changqing National Nature Reserve, Shaanxi, China, 15 June 2011. Per Alström.

Media Contact

Mikael Porpst idw

More Information:

http://www.slu.se

All latest news from the category: Life Sciences and Chemistry

Articles and reports from the Life Sciences and chemistry area deal with applied and basic research into modern biology, chemistry and human medicine.

Valuable information can be found on a range of life sciences fields including bacteriology, biochemistry, bionics, bioinformatics, biophysics, biotechnology, genetics, geobotany, human biology, marine biology, microbiology, molecular biology, cellular biology, zoology, bioinorganic chemistry, microchemistry and environmental chemistry.

Back to home

Comments (0)

Write a comment

Newest articles

Lighting up the future

New multidisciplinary research from the University of St Andrews could lead to more efficient televisions, computer screens and lighting. Researchers at the Organic Semiconductor Centre in the School of Physics and…

Researchers crack sugarcane’s complex genetic code

Sweet success: Scientists created a highly accurate reference genome for one of the most important modern crops and found a rare example of how genes confer disease resistance in plants….

Evolution of the most powerful ocean current on Earth

The Antarctic Circumpolar Current plays an important part in global overturning circulation, the exchange of heat and CO2 between the ocean and atmosphere, and the stability of Antarctica’s ice sheets….

Partners & Sponsors