Siberian blue robin

Siberian blue robin
Male
Juvenile
Conservation status

Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Muscicapidae
Genus: Luscinia
Species: L. cyane
Binomial name
Luscinia cyane
(Pallas, 1776)
Synonyms

Luscinia cyanea (lapsus)

The Siberian blue robin, Luscinia cyane, is a small passerine bird that was formerly classified as a member of the thrush family, Turdidae, but is now more generally considered to belong to the Old World flycatcher family, Muscicapidae. It and similar small European species are often called chats. Recent research suggests that this species and some other East Asian members of Luscinia should be classified in a new genus, together with the Japanese and Ryūkyū robins.[2]

This bird is a migratory insectivorous species breeding in eastern Asia across to Japan. It winters in southeast Asia and Indonesia.

The breeding habitat is coniferous forest with dense undergrowth, often beside rivers or at woodland edges. It feeds on the ground but is very 'skulking'. In winter, this bird also tends to stay in dense vegetation.

This species is larger than the European robin. The breeding male is unmistakable with blue upperparts and white underparts. The female is much drabber, with brown upperparts and whitish underparts. Her dark eye stands out against the paler brown face.

This species is a very rare vagrant to Europe, and has vagrant status even as far east as Pakistan.

References

  1. ↑ BirdLife International (2012). "Luscinia cyane". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2013.2. International Union for Conservation of Nature. Retrieved 26 November 2013.
  2. ↑ Seki, Shin-Ichi (2006). "The origin of the East Asian Erithacus robin, Erithacus komadori, inferred from cytochrome b sequence data". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 39 (3): 899–905. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2006.01.028. PMID 16529957.

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