Indian robin

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Indian robin
Male of the subspecies cambaiensis
(
Kanha National Park, Madhya Pradesh, India
)
Female of the subspecies cambaiensis
(Rajasthan)

Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Muscicapidae
Genus: Copsychus
Species:
C. fulicatus
Binomial name
Copsychus fulicatus
(Linnaeus, 1766)
Synonyms
  • Motacilla fulicata Linnaeus, 1766[2][3]
  • Saxicoloides fulicata (Linnaeus, 1766)
  • Sylvia cambaiensis (Latham, 1790)
  • Thamnobia cambaiensis (Latham, 1790)
  • Thamnobia fulicata (Linnaeus, 1766)
  • Sylvia ptymatura[4]
Indian robin (Copsychus fulicatus) sound

The Indian robin (Copsychus fulicatus)

pied bushchats and Oriental magpie-robins
.

Taxonomy

In 1760, the French zoologist

type location was subsequently corrected to Puducherry in southern India.[8] The specific name is from the Latin fulicatus for "dusky" or "black".[9]

The Indian robin was formerly placed in the

Muscicapidae.[10][11][12][13]

Description

Male from Andhra Pradesh, showing features of intermedius

The Indian robin is sexually dimorphic in plumage, with the male being mainly black with a white shoulder patch or stripe whose visible extent can vary with posture. The northern populations have the upper plumage brownish, while the southern populations are black above. The males have chestnut undertail coverts and these are visible as the bird usually holds the 6–8 cm long tail raised upright. The females are brownish above, have no white shoulder stripe and are greyish below, with the vent a paler shade of chestnut than the males. Birds of the northern populations are larger than those from southern India or Sri Lanka. Juvenile birds are much like females, but the throat is mottled.[14]

Several subspecies are named based on their plumage differences. The nominate subspecies refers to the population found across southern peninsular India. The subspecies leucopterus is found in Sri Lanka. In the two subspecies cambaiensis of northern and north-western India and erythrura (=erythrurus) of north-eastern India (south to around Sambalpur),[15] the males have brown backs. The subspecies intermedius includes birds in appearance between cambaiensis, erythrura and fulicata, the last one found in central India and parts of the Deccan region. The subspecies munda was named based on a specimen from the Punjab, but it is now considered synonymous with cambaiensis.[16] Older classifications treat the population in southern India as the subspecies ptymatura while considering the type locality as Sri Lanka,[17] although it has subsequently been restricted to Pondicherry.[18]

Local names recorded by

pied bushchat
, a bird often found in similar habitats.

Male fulicatus from Tharparkar, Sindh
Male from Tharparkar, Sindh, Pakistan

Distribution and habitat

This bird is found in open stony, grassy and scrub forest habitats. They are mainly found in dry habitats and are mostly absent from the thicker forest regions and high rainfall areas. All populations are resident and non-migratory. The species is often found close to human habitation and will frequently perch on rooftops.[14][17]

The species was introduced into the New York region, but did not become established there.[20][21] A vagrant or escape has been noted from the Maldives.[14]

Ecology

Population densities of 193-240 individuals per square km have been estimated in the Pondicherry University campus. The ratio of males to females was about 1.5:1. Territory size for males is estimated at about 6650 m2.[22] Males can be aggressive to others during the breeding season and will even attack reflections.[23] Human activities such as felling and firewood removal in forests appear to benefit them.[24]

Food

They feed mostly on insects but are known to take frogs and lizards especially when feeding young at the nest.[25] Individuals may forage late in the evening to capture insects attracted to lights.[26]

Breeding

Nest with eggs

The breeding season is December to September, but varies according to region and usually begins with the first rains.[27] Peak breeding in northern India is in June[28] and is earlier in Southern India.[27] In Sri Lanka, breeding is in March to June and August to September.[14] Males sing during this season and display by lowering and spreading their tail feathers and strutting around the female, displaying their sides and fluffing their undertail coverts.[29] The songs of males have variants for inviting mates and for deterring other males.[30] Males will drive away other males and patrol their territory by flying with slow wing beats from perch to perch. They may sometimes peck at their reflections.[31] An aggressive display involves fluffing up the feathers and holding the bill high.[32]

Parli, India
)

Nests are built between rocks, in holes in walls or in a tree hollow

thanatosis) when handled[32] and may be preyed on by the rufous treepie.[40] The same nest site may be reused in subsequent years.[32][41]

An old anecdotal record of these birds laying their eggs in the nests of Turdoides babblers has not been supported by later observers.[42] Laboratory studies have demonstrated cyclic changes in the melanin pigmentation of the tissue surrounding the testes. The dark pigmentation is lost during the breeding season and regained later.[43]

Parasites

Several parasites, including a

cestode, have been identified in this species.[44][45]

Notes

  1. ^ Rasmussen & Anderton emend the species epithet from fulicata to fulicatus since Saxicola is masculine and the -oides ending is always masculine according to ICZN Code 30.1.4.4. ICZN Code Archived 2015-09-24 at the Wayback Machine. See also David, Normand; Gosselin, Michel (2002). "The grammatical gender of avian genera". Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club. 122 (4): 257–282.

References

  1. ^ BirdLife International (2012). "Saxicoloides fulicatus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2012. Retrieved 26 November 2013.
  2. ^ Linnaeus (1766). Systema Naturae i:336 (Ceylon).
  3. ^ Baker, E C Stuart (1921). "A hand-list of genera and species of birds of the Indian Empire". J. Bom. Nat. Hist. Soc. 27 (1): 87.
  4. ^ George Robert Gray (1855). Catalogue of the Genera and Subgenera of Birds Contained in the British Museum. British Museum Natural History. p. 36.
  5. ^ Brisson, Mathurin Jacques (1760). Ornithologie, ou, Méthode contenant la division des oiseaux en ordres, sections, genres, especes & leurs variétés (in French and Latin). Vol. 3. Paris: Jean-Baptiste Bauche. pp. 444–446, Plate 23 fig 2. The two stars (**) at the start of the section indicates that Brisson based his description on the examination of a specimen.
  6. ^
    hdl:2246/678
    .
  7. ^ Linnaeus, Carl (1766). Systema naturae : per regna tria natura, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis (in Latin). Vol. 1, Part 1 (12th ed.). Holmiae (Stockholm): Laurentii Salvii. p. 336.
  8. ^ Mayr, Ernst; Paynter, Raymond A. Jr, eds. (1964). Check-list of Birds of the World. Vol. 10. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. pp. 133–134.
  9. ^ Jobling, J.A. (2018). del Hoyo, J.; Elliott, A.; Sargatal, J.; Christie, D.A.; de Juana, E. (eds.). "Key to Scientific Names in Ornithology". Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions. Retrieved 10 May 2018.
  10. PMID 20656044
    .
  11. S2CID 85963319
    .
  12. ^ Gill, Frank; Donsker, David (eds.). "Chats, Old World flycatchers". World Bird List Version 6.2. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 20 May 2016.
  13. PMID 24508703
    .
  14. ^ a b c d Rasmussen PC; Anderton, JC (2005). Birds of South Asia: The Ripley Guide. Volume 2. Smithsonian Institution and Lynx Edicions. p. 396.
  15. ^ Majumdar, N (1980). "Occurrence of the Bengal Black Robin, Saxicoloides fulicata erythrura (Lesson) [Muscicapidae: Turdinae], and the Assam Purple Sunbird, Nectarinia asiatica intermedia (Hume) [Nectariniidae] in Orissa State". J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 77 (2): 334.
  16. ^ Van Tyne, J.; W. Koelz (1936). "Seven new birds from the Punjab". Occ. Pap. Mus. Zool. Univ. Michigan. 334: 5.
  17. ^ a b c Hugh Whistler (1941). Popular Handbook of Indian Birds (3rd ed.). Gurney and Jackson. pp. 104–106.
  18. ^ Ripley, SD (1952). "The Thrushes" (PDF). Postilla. 13: 1–48. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-06-27.
  19. ^ Jerdon, T. C. (1863). The Birds of India. Volume 2 (part 1). Military Orphan Press, Calcutta. pp. 121.
  20. ^ USFWS (2005-03-15). "Notices - Federal Register - March 15, 2005 Vol. 70, No. 49" (PDF). US Fish and Wildlife Service. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-09-24. Retrieved 2008-09-30.
  21. ^ Bull, J. (1974). Birds of New York state. American Museum of Natural History, New York.
  22. ^ Rajasekhar, B (1993). "Use of line transects to estimate Indian Robin (Saxicoloides fulicata) population at Pondicherry University Campus". In Verghese, A; Sridhar, S; Chakravarthy, AK (eds.). Bird Conservation: Strategies for the Nineties and Beyond. Ornithological Society of India, Bangalore. p. 191..
  23. ^ Wikramanayake, EB (1952). "Blackbacked Robin attacking car". J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 50 (3): 656.
  24. ^ Kumar, Raman; Shahabuddin, Ghazala (2006). "Consequences of Rural Biomass Extraction for Bird Communities in an Indian Tropical Dry Forest and the Role of Vegetation Structure" (PDF). Conservation and Society. 4 (4): 562–591. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-08-21.
  25. ^ Sivasubramanian, C (1991). "Frog and lizard in the dietary of the Indian Robin Saxicoloides fulicata (Linn.)". J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 88 (3): 458.
  26. ^ Bharos, A. M. K. (1997). "Indian Robin Saxicola fulicata foraging in the light of fluorescent lamps". Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society. 94: 571.
  27. ^ a b c Betts, F N (1951). "The birds of Coorg. Part 1". J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 50 (1): 20–63.
  28. ^ a b Oates, E W (1905). Catalogue of the collection of birds' eggs in the British Museum. Vol. 4. pp. 151–153.
  29. ^ Thyagaraju, A. S. (1955). "The courtship (?) display of the Blackbacked Indian Robin [Saxicoloides fulicata (Linn.)]". J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 53 (1): 129–130.
  30. ^ Kumar, A (2012). "Breeding biology of Indian Robin Saxicoloides fulicata in northern India" (PDF). J. Exp. Zool. India. 15 (1): 57–61.
  31. ^ Wikramanayake, E.B. (1952). "Blackbacked robin [Saxicoloides f. fulicata (Linn.)] attacking car". J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 50 (3): 656.
  32. ^ a b c d e Ali, S; S Dillon Ripley (1998). Handbook of the birds of India and Pakistan. Vol. 9 (2nd ed.). Oxford University Press. pp. 61–67.
  33. ^ Shanbhag, AB; Gramopadhye, A (1996). "Peculiar nesting site and some observations on the breeding behaviour of Indian Robin Saxicoloides fulicata Linn". Newsletter for Birdwatchers. 36 (1): 3–5.
  34. JSTOR 4075138
    .
  35. doi:10.1111/j.1474-919X.1867.tb06443.x
    .
  36. ^ Oates, E. W. 1890 (1889–98). The Fauna of British India, Including Ceylon and Burma. Birds. Volume 2. Taylor and Francis London. pp. 115.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  37. ^ Javed, Salim (1990). "Abnormal clutch in Indian Brownbacked Robin Saxicoloides fulicata cambaiensis (Latham)". J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 89 (2): 258.
  38. OCLC 214935260
    .
  39. ^ George, JC (1961). "Parental cooperation in the feeding of nestlings in the Indian Robin". J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 58 (1): 267–268.
  40. ^ Begbie, A (1905). "Nest of the Brown-backed Indian Robin Thamnobia cambaiensis". J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 16 (3): 513.
  41. ^ Naik, RM (1963). "On the nesting habits of the Indian Robin, Saxicoloides fulicata (Linnaeus)". Newsletter for Birdwatchers. 3 (9): 7.
  42. ^ Field, F (1902). "Robin laying in babbler's nest". J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 14 (3): 610–611.
  43. PMID 6835913
    .
  44. ^ Shinde GB, Gharge MD, Gavhane AB, Jadhav BV (1990). "A new avian cestode from Saxicoloides fulicata at Aurangabad (M.S.) India". Rivista di Parassitologia. 51 (3): 255–257.
  45. JSTOR 3275824
    .

Other sources

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