Common Iora

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iCommon Iora

Scientific classification

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Aegithinidae
Genus:	Aegithina
Species:	A. tiphia

Binomial name

Aegithina tiphia
(Linnaeus, 1758)

The Common Iora (Aegithina tiphia) is a small passerine bird. This iora breeds across tropical southern Asia from India and Sri Lanka east to Indonesia. This common species is found in forest and other well-wooded areas. Two to four greenish white eggs are laid in a small, loose, cup-shaped nest made out of grass and built in a tree.

During the breeding season, the male performs an acrobatic courtship display, darting up into the air fluffing up all his feathers, especially those on the pale green rump, then spiralling down to the original perch. Once he lands, he spreads his tail and droops his wings.

The adult Common Iora is about 25cm long. The breeding male has black or greenish upperparts, and bright yellow underparts. The flight feathers are blackish with an obvious white wing bar. Non-breeding males have uniformly greenish upperparts. The females are similar to non-breeding males, but with grey-black wings.

There is a good deal of racial variation in the breeding males. A. t. multicolor of Sri Lanka and southern India has a black crown and back, A. t. tiphia of the Himalayas has the upperparts entirely green, and A. t. humei of peninsular India has a black crown with its back a mixture of black and green.

The call is a mixture of churrs, chattering and whistles, and the song is a trilled wheeeee-tee. The Common Iora eats insects and spiders.

[edit] References

BirdLife International (2004). Aegithina tiphia. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 12 May 2006. Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern
Birds of India by Grimmett, Inskipp and Inskipp, ISBN 0-691-04910-6