White-bellied Redstart      Hodgsonius phoenicuroides

Etymology:

• Hodgsonius : Named after English diplomat Brian Houghton Hodgson (1800–1894).
• Phoenicuroides: Greek word phoinix –crimson, red, purple; ouros –tailed; oides – resembling. 

Distribution:  Breeds in Himalayas, Winters in foothills & North East Indian Hills.

 Description: It has a size of 18–19 cm; weight of 22–25 g.

The male of nominate race is slaty grey-blue, with clear-cut white belly merging with greyish flanks. It has two small white carpal spots, long black graduated tail with rufous outer bases. The bill is blackish-brown to yellowish; legs are greyish-brown.

The female is olive-brown above, more buff-brown below, with vague whitish chin and belly, rufous-tinged flanks and outer tail.

The juvenile is like female, but spotted rufous above, scaled brown below; first-year male like female but darker above, with some blue on head, mantle, breast and tail.

Habitat: It is found in open bushy areas and closed forest, preferring undergrowth, bush and scrub adjacent to forest, breeding in thickets of birch, juniper, rhododendron near or at tree-line, man-made clearings with luxuriant thickets. It is found at at 2400–4300 m. It winters in bush jungle, scrub, grass, bamboo, secondary growth and undergrowth at edge of broadleaf evergreen forest, from foothills to 1300 m.

Food habits:  It eats Insects, berries. It feeds mainly on ground, darting forward in little spurts or runs. It expands and erects tail.

Breeding habits: They breed in May to Jul. The nest is a deep, bulky cup of grass, dead leaves, roots and stems, lined with finer grass, hair and feathers, hidden on ground in tall herbage or in low bus. They lay a clutch of 2–3 eggs. The nest is parasitized by Common Cuckoo (Cuculus canorus).

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