Kingdom Animalia Order Passeriformes Genus Calliope Higher classification Luscinia | Phylum Chordata Family Muscicapidae Scientific name Luscinia obscura Rank Species | |
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Similar Bird, Horsfield's bush lark, Oriental magpie‑robin, Prinia, Black‑throated canary | ||
Blackthroat bird
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.
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The species was discovered in 1891, but for the next 120 years only a handful of individuals were seen.: even now no female has been conclusively identified. So little was known of it that it earned the title " Asia's most enigmatic robin".
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.
In 2014 a female and breeding pair were sighted.
The blackthroat was previously placed in the genus Luscinia. A large molecular phylogenetic study published in 2010 found that Luscinia was not monophyletic. The genus was therefore split and several species including blackthroat were moved to the reinstated genus Calliope.
