Streak- throated Barwing  Actinodura egertoni

Etymology :

  • Actinodura :Greek word aktis, aktinos brightness, splendour; odouros watcher, guardian
  • Egertoni: Named after Sir Philip de Malpas Grey-Egerton (1806–1881) English palaeontologist

Distribution in India: Resident in Eastern Himalayas and North East of India

Description: Size of 21·5–23·5 cm; wt. of 31–42 g. It is a long-tailed, unstreaked Barwing with brownish-grey head and crest and chestnut forehead, face and chin. The nominate race has lores, upper malar area, anterior cheek, forehead and forecrown as dull chestnut, shading to brown-edged smoky-grey elongate feathers on central crown to hindcrown. The nape and neck side are smudgy mid-grey, shading to ochrous-brown on upperparts. The greater coverts are rufous, primary coverts are blackish, rest of upperwing is rufous-chestnut to buffish basally with dense black-and-whitish barring distally. The tail is plain dull rufous-chestnut centrally, with closely but weakly dark-barred outer feathers, all with whitish tips. The ear-coverts are slightly shiny pale grey with slight pinkish tinge, The chin and throat are dull chestnut-rufous with vague greyish streaking, shading to rufous-tinged pale pinkish-grey on breast and stronger rufous on flanks, thighs and vent, belly is whitish. The iris is pale grey, bluish-brown, olive-yellow or brown, orbital skin is grey-green; bill is yellowish-brown, paler lower mandible; legs are brownish-flesh to grey-brown or pale horn. Both the sexes are similar. The juvenile has a crown and nape washed warm brown. The race lewisi ( East Arunachal Pradesh) is less rufescent above than nominate; khasiana (Meghalaya, South Assam ,Nagaland and Manipur) is altogether paler, more olive-tinged above, buffier below, with more rufous-tan in wings; ripponi (Mizoram) has a crown greyer and with less chestnut.

Habitat: It is found in dense undergrowth, scrub-jungle, forest edge, shrubbery and scrub in warm broadleaf evergreen forest. It breeds at 600–2600.

Food Habits: They eat Insects, molluscs; also eat fruits, including those of aromatic wintergreens berries, including certain ginseng roots

Breeding Habits: They breed in April–Jul. Nest described as a largish, rather deep cup, made of fern, bamboo or other dead leaves, grasses, fibrous roots and green leaves placed above the ground in bamboo clump, bush or sapling. They lay a clutch 2–4 eggs.