Quantcast

Red-billed Leiothrix

Leiothrix lutea Order: PASSERIFORMESFamily: Babblers (Timaliidae)

Red-billed Leiothrix Portrait
  Copyright 2002-2007 Whatbird.com
Click here for licensing information Splitbar

General

Red-billed Leiothrix: Native to southeast Asia. Crown, nape, and back are olive-green, lores, eyering, and supraloral stripe are cream to dull yellow. Bright yellow-orange throat, chin is yellow. underparts are pale yellow. Olive-brown wings have a yellow-orange patch. Bright red bill. Sexes are similar, females more dull. Juveniles have gray upperparts, dull red and yellow wing patches, yellow throat and rust breast-band. Bill is black with variable amounts of red at the tip.

Range and Habitat

Red-billed Leiothrix: Introduced to Kauai in 1918, to other islands in the 1920s-1930s. May no longer exist on Kauai, populations fluctuate on other islands. Found in native and exotic forests from ocean level to mountain tops. Native to Southeast Asia, Himalayan region of India, and southern China.

Voice Text

"pu pu pu pu", "pe pe pe pa"

Interesting Facts

  • The Red-billed Leiothrix is also known as the Pekin Nightingale, Pekin Robin, Chinese Nightingale, and Japanese Hill Robin.
  • They were imported to Hawaii in 1911 and purposefully released into the wild in 1918.
  • They prefer areas that receive at least 40 inches of rainfall a year.
  • A group of babblers are collectively known as a "tower" and a "brook" of babblers.


Author

Crystal Adams

Splitbar
Small Range Map for Red-billed Leiothrix
.
Bird database and its related content, illustrations and media is Copyright © 2002 - 2007  Whatbird.com
All rights reserved. No part of this web site may be reproduced without written permission from Mitch Waite Group.
 Privacy Policy.
Percevia® Registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
Bird Call Credits: The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Martyn Stewart, http://www.naturesound.org, Redmond, Washington USA. The reuse or copying of bird calls in this database is strictly forbidden.
Family
Species Leiothrix lutea
Length5.5 Inches
Wingspan Inches

Red-billed Leiothrix

Red-billed Leiothrix: Native to southeast Asia. Crown, nape, and back are olive-green, lores, eyering, and supraloral stripe are cream to dull yellow. Bright yellow-orange throat, chin is yellow. Underparts are pale yellow. Olive-brown wings have a yellow-orange patch. Red bill, pink legs and feet.

● Song: "pu pu pu pu", "pe pe pe pa"

● Foraging & Feeding: Red-billed Leiothrix: Forages on the ground and in the lower branches of dense vegetation. Feeds mostly on fruits, including strawberry guava, overripe papaya, and thimbleberry; also eats insects.

● Breeding & nesting: Red-billed Leiothrix: One to four pale blue eggs marked with red-brown at the larger end are laid in a pendant nest. It is built low in dense underbrush and made of lichen, leaves, and moss. Incubation lasts for 14 days and is primarily done by the female. Chicks fledge 10 to 12 days after hatching.

● Similar species: Red-billed Leiothrix: Not likely to be confused with any other species.

Flight Pattern

Flits from plant to plant in dense underbrush with short flights and hops.
Red-billed Leiothrix Body Illustration
● Range & Habitat: Red-billed Leiothrix: Introduced to Kauai in 1918, to other islands in the 1920s-1930s. May no longer exist on Kauai, populations fluctuate on other islands. Found in native and exotic forests from ocean level to mountain tops. Native to Southeast Asia, Himalayan region of India, and southern China.
BreedingMonogamous
PopulationUncommon to common
MigrationNonmigratory
Weight0.75 Ounces