Bird name:

Red-billed Leiothrix

Leiothrix lutea

Order

PASSERIFORMES

Family

Babblers (Timaliidae)

Code 4

RBLE

Code 6

LEILUT

ITIS

178837

Breeding Location:

Bushes, shrubs, and thickets, Forests

Breeding Type:

Monogamous

Breeding Population:

Uncommon to common

Egg Color:

Pale blue marked with red-brown

Number of Eggs:

1 - 4

Incubation Days:

Egg Incubator:

Both sexes

Nest Material:

Leaves, dried grasses, sometimes animal hair

Migration:

Nonmigratory

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General

Red-billed Leiothrix: Native to southeast Asia. Crown, nape, and back are olive-green, lores, eyering, and supraloral stripe are cream to dull yellow. Bright yellow-orange throat, chin is yellow. underparts are pale yellow. Olive-brown wings have a yellow-orange patch. Bright red bill. Sexes are similar, females more dull. Juveniles have gray upperparts, dull red and yellow wing patches, yellow throat and rust breast-band. Bill is black with variable amounts of red at the tip.

Range and Habitat

Red-billed Leiothrix: Introduced to Kauai in 1918, to other islands in the 1920s-1930s. May no longer exist on Kauai, populations fluctuate on other islands. Found in native and exotic forests from ocean level to mountain tops. Native to Southeast Asia, Himalayan region of India, and southern China.

Breeding and Nesting

Red-billed Leiothrix: One to four pale blue eggs marked with red-brown at the larger end are laid in a pendant nest. It is built low in dense underbrush and made of lichen, leaves, and moss. Incubation lasts for 14 days and is primarily done by the female. Chicks fledge 10 to 12 days after hatching.

Foraging and Feeding

Red-billed Leiothrix: Forages on the ground and in the lower branches of dense vegetation. Feeds mostly on fruits, including strawberry guava, overripe papaya, and thimbleberry; also eats insects.

Vocalization

Red-billed Leiothrix: Males sing complex, long songs during breeding season. Year-round uses a shorter, simple song. Warbling and melodious song similar to Red-whiskered Bulbul. Both sexes use unique,short calls to stay together. When feeding utters "pu pu pu pu" or "pe pe pe pa". A harsh, loud chatter call is used when there are humans or other birds near their nest. Has a soft, sad whistle.

Similar Species

Red-billed Leiothrix: Not likely to be confused with any other species.

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Bird Call Credits: The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Martyn Stewart, http://www.naturesound.org, Redmond, Washington USA. The reuse or copying of bird calls in this database is strictly forbidden.

Underparts

Belly, undertail coverts, chest, flanks, and foreneck.

Upperparts

Back, rump, hindneck, wings, and crown.

Chin

The area of the face just below the bill.

Crown

The crown is the top part of the birds head.

Nape

Also called the hindneck or collar, it is the back of the neck where the head joins the body.

4 and 6 letter alpha codes

The four letter common name alpha code is is derived from the first two letters of the common first name and the first two letters of common last name. The six letter species name alpha code is derived from the first three letters of the scientific name (genus) and the first three letters of the scientific name (species). See (1) below for the rules used to create the codes..

Four-letter (for English common names) and six-letter (for scientific names) species alpha codes were developed by Pyle and DeSante (2003, North American Bird-Bander 28:64-79) to reflect A.O.U. taxonomy and nomenclature (A.O.U. 1998) as modified by Supplements 42 (Auk 117:847-858, 2000) and 43 (Auk 119:897-906, 2002). The list has been updated by Pyle and DeSante to reflect changes reported by the A.O.U from 2003 through 2006.

Field Guide to Birds of North America