Great Parrotbill Paradoxornis aemodium
Etymology:
- Paradoxornis: Greek word paradoxos-: extraordinary; Ornis -: bird
- Aemodium : Latin word Oemodium –of the Himalayas
Vernacular Names: Pahari: Tuti, Lepcha: Lho-rannio-pho
Distribution: Himalayas from North India (East Uttarakhand) East to Bhutan.
Description: It has a size of 27·5–28·5 cm; weight of 88–110 g.
The adult is much larger than other parrotbills, and relatively long-billed. The forehead is greyish-white, fading onto crown. It is mousy greyish-brown with faint warm tinge above, slightly greyer on crown, rump and uppertail-coverts. The lores and orbital area are blackish-brown, head side is similar in colour to upperparts.
The flight-feathers are dark grey with buffish-cream inner fringes, primaries P5-P10 have pale ash-grey outer fringe towards tips, becoming greyer towards base, and tinged with colour of upperparts close to base. The inner primaries are mid-grey on outer webs and washed with colour of upperparts. It has a strong rufescent wash over outer webs of secondaries and tertials, extending just to innermost primaries.
The tail is medium grey, becoming similar in colour to upperparts towards centres of feathers. It is mostly ashy grey below, with vague paler and darker streaks on throat to ear-coverts. The flanks have a wash of similar colour to that of upperparts.
The iris is pale yellow or pale orange-yellow to ochre-brown; the bill is orange-yellow, yellow at tip of upper mandible, or ochraceous yellow with paler tip. The legs are very dull plumbeous-green to ochraceous grey or plumbeous horn-coloured. Both the sexes are alike.
The juvenile is warmer-tinged above than adult and has warmer fringing on wings and tail, tail feathers narrower and more pointed.
Habitat: It is found in broadleaf evergreen forest, bamboo, and scrub, including rhododendron (Rhododendron). It is found at 2700–3660 m and down to 1400 m in winter.
Food habits: It eats green bamboo shoots, crab apple seeds, wild raspberries and insects. Found in pairs or small parties, often associating with other species, including laughingthrushes (Garrulax) and other babblers (Timaliidae) in bird waves. It forages mostly low down, even on the ground. It tears off strips of bamboo leaves, making loud cracking sounds.
Breeding habits: They breed in May–Jul in India. The nest is a regular, compact perfectly hemispherical cup, but also as large and rather broad, shallow cup, constructed from grasses and strips of bamboo leaves, thickly lined with very fine green grass stems and situated in bamboo clump. They lay a clutch of 2–3 eggs.