Paradoxornis


Paradoxornis is a genus of passerine birds in the parrotbill family Paradoxornithidae that are native to East, Southeast and South Asia.

Taxonomy

The genus Paradoxornis was introduced in 1836 by the English ornithologist John Gould to accommodate a single species, Paradoxornis flavirostris Gould, the black-breasted parrotbill. This is the type species of the genus. The genus name combines the Ancient Greek παραδοξος/paradoxos meaning "extraordinary" with ορνις/ornis, ορνιθος/ornithos meaning "bird".
Based on the results molecular phylogenetic study published in 2019, the genus now includes species that were previously placed in the genera Calamornis, Conostoma, Cholornis, and Psittiparus.

Species

The genus contains the following ten species:
ImageCommon nameScientific nameDistribution
Reed parrotbillParadoxornis heudeieast Mongolia to east, northeast China and southeast Russia
Black-breasted parrotbillParadoxornis flavirostrisHimalayas, northeast India
Spot-breasted parrotbillParadoxornis guttaticollisnortheast India to northwest Thailand and south China
Great parrotbillParadoxornis aemodiusHimalayas, northeast Myanmar to central China
Brown parrotbillParadoxornis unicolorHimalayas to south China
Three-toed parrotbillParadoxornis paradoxusChina
Grey-headed parrotbillParadoxornis gularisHimalayas to north Vietnam
Black-headed parrotbillParadoxornis margaritaesouth Vietnam
White-breasted parrotbillParadoxornis ruficepsnortheast India, Bhutan and adjacent south China
Rufous-headed parrotbillParadoxornis bakerinortheast India to Vietnam