Leiothrix
Silver-eared mesia
Leiothrix argentauris
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Leiothrichidae
Genus: Leiothrix
Swainson, 1832
Type species
Parus furcatus[1] = Sylvia luteo
Temminck, 1824
Species

Leiothrix is a genus of passerine birds in the family Leiothrichidae. They belong to a clade also containing at least the liocichlas, barwings, minlas and sibias. The sibias are possibly their closest living relatives.

Taxonomy

The genus Leiothrix was introduced in 1832 by the English naturalist William John Swainson with the red-billed leiothrix as the type species.[2][3] The genus name combines the Ancient Greek leios meaning "smooth" and thrix meaning "hair".[4]


The genus contains two species:[5]

Image Scientific name Common Name Distribution
Leiothrix argentauris Silver-eared mesia South East Asia.
Leiothrix lutea Red-billed leiothrix or "Pekin nightingale", India, Bhutan, Nepal, Burma and parts of Tibet.


Their delicate colors and accomplished song make them popular cagebirds.

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Leiothrix (Aves).
Wikispecies has information related to Leiothrix (bird).
  1. ^ "Leiothrichidae". aviansystematics.org. The Trust for Avian Systematics. Retrieved 2023-07-15.
  2. ^ Swainson, William John; Richardson, J. (1831). Fauna Boreali-Americana, or, The Zoology of the Northern Parts of British America. Vol. 2: The Birds. London: J. Murray. pp. 233, 490. The title page bears the year 1831 but the volume was not published until 1832.
  3. ^ Mayr, Ernst; Paynter, Raymond A. Jr, eds. (1964). Check-List of Birds of the World. Vol. 10. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. p. 381.
  4. ^ Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. p. 221. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
  5. ^ Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (January 2022). "Laughingthrushes and allies". IOC World Bird List Version 12.1. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
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