White-eared Sibia

Overview

The Heterophasia auricularis is an elegant, long-tailed babbler belonging to the laughingthrush family Leiothrichidae. Classified as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, this species is endemic to the island of Taiwan with no known subspecies.

Identification

• Size: 22 to 24 cm long, weighing between 40–50 g.
• Plumage: Black head with a conspicuous white stripe ending in long white filamentous plumes; deep blue-black wings and tail with a white wingbar; dark grey back and breast; deep rufous chestnut belly and rump.
• Features: Black bill and brown-flesh coloured legs.
• Similarity: Both sexes are alike in appearance.

Habitat

Endemic to Taiwan, where it inhabits evergreen and mixed broadleaf coniferous forests. It is a partial altitudinal migrant, breeding at 1,200–3,000 m in summer but descending to as low as 200–700 m in winter.

Diet

An active feeder that consumes insects, nectar, acorns, berries, fruit, and seeds. It possesses a brushy tongue adapted for taking nectar and may join flocks of Taiwan yuhina in flowering trees. It also preys on eggs and nestlings, foraging from the canopy to the forest floor but preferring higher altitudes.

Did you know?

Although it has a specialized brushy tongue for taking nectar, it is not wholly dependent on this food source and will opportunistically join other flocks to feed.