Indian Robin

Taxobox
name = Indian Robin


image_caption = Male of race "cambaiensis"


image2_caption = Female of race "cambaiensis" (Haryana)
status = LC | status_system = IUCN3.1
status_ref = [BirdLife International 2004. [http://www.iucnredlist.org/search/details.php/51782/all Saxicoloides fulicatus] . [http://www.iucnredlist.org 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. ] Downloaded on 27 July 2007.]
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Aves
ordo = Passeriformes
familia = Muscicapidae
genus = "Saxicoloides"
genus_authority = Lesson, 1832
species = "S. fulicatus"
binomial = "Saxicoloides fulicatus"
binomial_authority = (Linnaeus, 1766)
synonyms = "Motacilla fulicata" [cite book|author=Linnaeus|year=1766|title=Systema Naturae i:336 (Ceylon)] [cite journal|author=Baker, E C Stuart|year=1921|title=A hand-list of genera and species of birds of the Indian Empire|journal=Jour. Bom. Nat. Hist. Soc.|volume=27|issue=1|pages=87|url=http://www.archive.org/details/handlistofgenera00bake] "Saxicoloides fulicata" "Thamnobia cambaiensis" "Thamnobia fulicata" "Sylvia ptymatura" [cite book|title=Catalogue of the Genera and Subgenera of Birds Contained in the British Museum|publisher=British Museum Natural History|author=George Robert Gray|year=1855|pages=36]
range_

range_map_caption = Light green "cambaiensis", dark green " fulicata" and Sri Lankan "leucopterus"The Indian Robin ("Saxicoloides fulicatus"Rasmussen & Anderton emend the species epithet from "fulicata" to "fulicatus" since "Saxicola" is masculine and the "-oides" ending is always masculine according to ICZN Code 30.1.4.4. [http://www.iczn.org/iczn/index.jsp?nfv=true&article=30 ICZN Code] . See also David, Normand and Michel Gosselin (2002) The grammatical gender of avian genera. Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club 122(4):257-282.] ) is a species of bird in the Muscicapidae family.It is found in Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.

Description and distribution

This bird is found in open stony, grassy and scrub forest habitats. The tail is held upright and the vent is brown or dark chestnut. The males are glossy black with a white shoulder patch while females are smoky brown with grey underside. The nominate race is found in southern Peninsular India. Race "leucopterus" is found in Sri Lanka. Race "cambaiensis" of western India and "erythrura" of eastern India have the males with brown backs. Race "intermedius" is found in central India and parts of the Deccan region. A race "munda" was named for a specimen from Punjab but now placed under "cambaiensis". [cite journal|author=Van Tyne, J. & W. Koelz|year=1936|title=Seven new birds from the Punjab|journal=Occ. Pap. Mus. Zool. Univ. Michigan|volume=334|pages=5] Older classifications include a race "ptymatura" for the population in southern India with the typical form being considered as being from Sri Lanka.cite book|title=Popular Handbook of Indian Birds 3rd ed|author=Hugh Whistler|year=1941|publisher=Gurney and Jackson|pages=106|url=http://books.google.co.in/books?id=nRlcWg-Kto4C] The species is often found close to human habitation.Rasmussen PC & JC Anderton (2005) Birds of South Asia:The Ripley Guide. Smithsonian Institution and Lynx Edicions.]

Local names recorded by Jerdon include "Nalanchi" (Telugu), "Wannatikuruvi" (Tamil), "Kalchuri" (Hindi). [cite book|title=The Birds of India. Volume 2 (part 1)|author=Jerdon, T. C.|year=1863|publisher=Military Orphan Press, Calcutta|pages=121|url=http://www.archive.org/details/birdsofindiabein21jerd]

The species was introduced into the New York region in the USA. [cite |url-http://www.fws.gov/migratorybirds/issues/nonnative/Final%20NonNative%20Species%20List.pdf|format=PDF|title=Notices - Federal Register - March 15 2005 Vol. 70, No. 49|author=USFWS|publisher=US Fish and Wildlife Service|date=2005-03-15] [cite book|author=Bull, J.|year=1974|title=Birds of New York state|publisher=American Museum of Natural History, New York. 655 pp]

Ecology

Population densities of 193-240 individuals per square km have been estimated in the Pondicherry University campus. The ratio of males to females was about 1.5:1. Territory size for males is estimated at about 6650 sq.m. [cite book|author=Rajasekhar,B|year=1993|title=Use of line transects to estimate Indian Robin ("Saxicoloides fulicata") population at Pondicherry University Campus. In: Bird Conservation: Strategies for the Nineties and Beyond. (Eds: Verghese,A; Sridhar,S; Chakravarthy,AK) Ornithological Society of India, Bangalore|pages=191.] Males can be aggressive to others during the breeding season and will even attack reflections. [cite journal|author=Wikramanayake,EB|year=1952|title=Blackbacked Robin attacking car|journal=J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc.|volume=50|issue=3|pages=656] Human activities such as felling and firewood removal appears to benefit them. [cite journal|journal=Conservation and Society|pages=562–591|volume=4|issue=4|year=2006|title=Consequences of Rural Biomass Extraction for Bird Communities in an Indian Tropical Dry Forest and the Role of Vegetation Structure|author=Raman Kumar and Ghazala Shahabuddin|url=http://www.conservationandsociety.org/cs_4_4_4-562.pdf|format=PDF]

Food

They feed mostly on insects but are known to take frogs and lizards. [cite journal|author=Sivasubramanian,C|year=1991|title=Frog and lizard in the dietary of the Indian Robin "Saxicoloides fulicata" (Linn.)|journal=J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc.|volume=88|issue=3|pages=458] Individuals may forage late in the evening to capture insects attracted to lights. [cite journal|author=Bharos, A. M. K.|year=1997|title=Indian Robin "Saxicola fulicata" foraging in the light of fluorescent lamps.|journal=Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society|volume=94|pages=571]

Breeding

Nests are built between rocks, in holes in walls or in a tree hollow. [cite journal|author=Shanbhag,AB; Gramopadhye,A|year=1996|title=Peculiar nesting site and some observations on the breeding behaviour of Indian Robin "Saxicoloides fulicata" Linn.|journal=Newsl. For Birdwatchers|volume=36|issue=1|pages=3–5] It has been noted that many nests have pieces of snake sloughs. [cite journal|journal=The Auk|volume = 43|issue= 4|year=1926| title= On the use, by birds, of snakes' sloughs as nesting material|author=Strecker, John K|url=http://elibrary.unm.edu/sora/Auk/v043n04/p0501-p0507.pdf|format=PDF|pages=501–507] The eggs are of regular oval form, but many are elongated and a few pointed. They have a fair amount of gloss. The ground-colour is white, often tinged with faint green or pink, and this is rather closely spotted, speckled, streaked, and mottled, with rich reddish or umber-brown and brownish yellow, with some underlying lavender. The markings are denser at the larger end of the egg, where they form an irregular cap. Some eggs are blotched with dark reddish brown at the large end. Eggs measure from .76 to .84 in length, and from .55 to .62 in breadth.Oates, E W (1905) Catalogue of the collection of birds' eggs in the British Museum. Vol. 4:151-153] There is anecdotal evidence of them laying their eggs in the nests of "Turdoides" babblers. [cite journal|author=Field,F|year=1902|title=Robin laying in babbler's nest|journal=J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc.|volume=14|issue=3|pages=610–611]

The breeding season is December to September but varies according to region. Peak breeding in northern India is in June. Southern India June-July. In Sri Lanka it breeds in March to June and August to September. Cyclic changes in melanin pigmentation of the testes associated with breeding have been noted. [cite journal|journal=Poult Sci.|year=1983|volume=62|issue=2|pages=385–388|title=Instance of melanosis in the gonads of male Indian Robin, "Saxicoloides fulicata" (Lin).|author=Agrawal SC, Bansal G.] Four to six eggs [cite book|author=Oates, E. W. 1890|title=Fauna of British India Vol 2|publisher=Taylor and Francis London|pages=115|url=http://www.archive.org/details/birdsindia02oaterich] are laid with only the female incubating. [cite book|author=Ali, S|year=1997|title=The Book of Indian Birds. 12th ed.|isbn=0195637313|publisher=Oxford University Press|oclc=214935260] Both males and females feed the young. [cite journal|author=George,JC|year=1961|title=Parental cooperation in the feeding of nestlings in the Indian Robin|journal=J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc.|volume=58|issue=1|pages=267–268] Nestlings are known to be preyed on by the Rufous Treepie. [cite journal|author=Begbie, A|year=1905|title=Nest of the Brown-backed Indian Robin "Thamnobia cambaiensis"|journal=J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc.|volume=16|issue=3|pages=513]

Parasites

Several parasites including a cestode have been identified in this species. [cite journal|title=A new avian cestode from "Saxicoloides fulicata" at Aurangabad (M.S.) India|author=Shinde GB, Gharge MD, Gavhane AB, Jadhav BV|journal=Rivista di Parassitologia|year=1990|volume=51|issue=3|pages=255–257] [cite journal|title="Haemaphysalis kutchensis" sp. n., a Common Larval and Nymphal Parasite of Birds in Northwestern India (Ixodoidea, Ixodidae)|author=Harry Hoogstraal and Harold Trapido|journal=The Journal of Parasitology|volume=49|issue=3|year=1963|pages=489–497|doi=10.2307/3275824]

Notes

References

External links

* [http://www.lsa.umich.edu/ummz/areas/bird/type.asp?UMMZ=79658 Specimen of race "cambaiensis" from UMMZ]
* [http://ibc.hbw.com/ibc/phtml/especie.phtml?idEspecie=6604 HBW videos]