The blackthroat (Calliope obscura), also known as the black-throated robin or black-throated blue robin, is a species of bird in the family Muscicapidae. It breeds in north-central China but its wintering grounds are uncertain. It has been recorded as a vagrant in northwest Thailand. Its natural habitat is bamboo thickets within coniferous forest at altitudes of 3000–3,400 metres. It is threatened by habitat loss.
| Blackthroat | |
|---|---|
| |
| Male, in Luoyang, Henan Province, China. | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Family: | Muscicapidae |
| Genus: | Calliope |
| Species: | C. obscura
|
| Binomial name | |
| Calliope obscura (Berezowski & Bianchi, 1891)
| |
| Synonyms | |
|
Luscinia obscura | |
The species was discovered in 1891, but for the next 120 years only a handful of individuals were seen and to date no female has been conclusively identified. So little was known of it that it earned the title " Asia's most enigmatic robin".[2]
In June 2011 a team of scientists discovered its breeding grounds in the Qinling Mountains, Shaanxi Province, north central China. Seven singing males were seen in Foping and a further seven in Changqing Nature Reserves- almost equal to the total number seen previously.[3]
In 2014 a female and breeding pair were sighted.[4]
The first formal description of the blackthroat was by the Russian ornithologists Valentin Bianchi and Mikhail Berezovski in 1891 who coined the binomial name Larvivora obscura.[5][6] The species was later placed in the genus Luscinia but when a molecular phylogenetic study published in 2010 found that Luscinia was not monophyletic the genus was split and several species including the blackthroat were moved to the reinstated genus Calliope.[7][8]
References
edit- ^ BirdLife International (2020). "Calliope obscura". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2020: e.T22709717A155299424. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-3.RLTS.T22709717A155299424.en. Retrieved 11 November 2021.
- ^ Qian, W.; Yi, H. (2011). "First images in the wild of Blackthroat Luscinia obscura, Asia's most enigmatic robin" (PDF). BirdingASIA. 15: 17–19.
- ^ BBC Nature 15/12/2011
- ^ "Rare blackthroated blue robins spotted in China". BBC News. Retrieved 8 April 2014.
- ^ Mayr, Ernst; Paynter, Raymond A. Jr. (1964). Check-list of Birds of the World. Volume 10. Vol. 10. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. p. 45.
- ^ Bianchi, Valentin; Berezowski, Mikhail (1891). Ptitsy gansuiskago puteshestviia G. N. Potanina 1884-1887 [The birds of the Gansu expedition of G.N. Potanin 1884–1887] (in Russian). Saint Petersburg: Tip. I. Akademii nauk. p. 97.
- ^ Sangster, G.; Alström, P.; Forsmark, E.; Olsson, U. (2010). "Multi-locus phylogenetic analysis of Old World chats and flycatchers reveals extensive paraphyly at family, subfamily and genus level (Aves: Muscicapidae)". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 57 (1): 380–392. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2010.07.008. PMID 20656044.
- ^ Gill, Frank; Donsker, David, eds. (2016). "Chats, Old World flycatchers". World Bird List Version 6.2. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 20 May 2016.
Further reading
edit- Alström, P.; Song, G.; Zhang, R.; Gao, X.; Holt, P.I.; Olsson, U.; Lei, F. (2013). "Taxonomic status of Blackthroat Calliope obscura and Firethroat C. pectardens". Forktail. 29: 94–99.
- Song, G.; Alström, P.; Zhang, R.; Gao, X.; Gong, H.; Holt, P.I.; Quan, Q.; Yin, Z.; Lei, F. (2014). "Rediscovery of an enigmatic Chinese passerine, the Blackthroat Calliope obscura: plumage, vocalizations, distribution, habitat choice, nesting and conservation". Journal of Ornithology. 155 (2): 347–356. doi:10.1007/s10336-013-1009-5. S2CID 14257667.
- Round, P.D.; Clement, P. (2015). "Firethroat Calliope pectardens and Blackthroat C. obscura: notes on winter plumages and habitats". BirdingASIA. 23: 84–87.
- Alström, P.; Zhao, M.; He, P.; Lei, F. (2016). "New locality for the endangered Blackthroat Calliope obscura". Journal of Ornithology. 157: 371–372. doi:10.1007/s10336-015-1279-1. S2CID 26763327.
External links
edit
Data related to Calliope obscura at Wikispecies
Media related to Calliope obscura at Wikimedia Commons- Xeno-canto: Sound recordings
