Leiothrix (bird)

Leiothrix
	Red-billed leiothrix; Leiothrix lutea
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Leiothrichidae
Genus:	Leiothrix; Swainson, 1832
Type species
	Parus furcatus Temminck, 1824, = Sylvia lutea Scopoli, 1786;
Species
	Leiothrix argentauris; Leiothrix lutea;

Leiothrix is a genus of passerine birds in the family Leiothrichidae. They belong to a clade also containing at least the liocichlas, barwings, minlas and sibias. The sibias are possibly their closest living relatives.

Taxonomy

The genus Leiothrix was introduced in 1832 by the English naturalist William Swainson with the red-billed leiothrix as the type species.^[2]^[3] The genus name combines the Ancient Greek leios meaning "smooth" and thrix meaning "hair".^[4]

The genus contains two species:^[5]^[6]

Genus *Leiothrix* – Swainson, 1832 – two species
Common name	Scientific name and subspecies	Range	Size and ecology	IUCN status and estimated population
Red-billed leiothrix	Leiothrix lutea (Scopoli, 1786) Five subspecies L. l. kumaiensis Whistler, 1943 L. l. calipyga (Hodgson, 1837) L. l. yunnanensis Rothschild, 1921 L. l. kwangtungensis Stresemann, 1923 L. l. lutea (Scopoli, 1786)	China, and the Himalaya in northern India, Bhutan, Nepal, and parts of Tibet.	Size: 14–15 cm Habitat: Thick shrubs and woodland Diet: Insects, fruit, seeds	LC
Silver-eared mesia	Leiothrix argentauris (Hodgson, 1837) Nine subspecies L. argentauris argentauris (Hodgson, 1837) L. argentauris aureigularis (Koelz, WN, 1953) L. argentauris vernayi (Mayr, E; Greenway, JC, 1938) L. argentauris galbana (Mayr & Greenway, 1938) L. argentauris ricketti (La Touche, 1923) L. argentauris cunhaci (Robinson & Kloss, 1919) L. argentauris tahanensis (Yen Kwokyung, 1934) L. argentauris rookmakeri (Junge, 1948) L. argentauris laurinae (Salvadori, 1879)	Southeast Asia, from Nepal east to southwestern China and south to Sumatra.	Size: 15–17 cm Habitat: Thick shrubs and woodland Diet: Insects, fruit, seeds	LC

Some authors have split silver-eared mesia into two species, L. argentauris in mainland Asia, and Sumatram mesia L. laurinae (with rookmakeri as a subspecies of it) on Sumatra,^[7] but this has not been followed by either the IOC World Bird List or the AviList.^[5]^[6]

Because of their plumage and song, they are frequently kept as cagebirds..^[8]

References

↑ "Leiothrichidae". aviansystematics.org. The Trust for Avian Systematics. Retrieved 2023-07-15.
↑ Swainson, William; Richardson, J. (1831). Fauna Boreali-Americana, or, The Zoology of the Northern Parts of British America. Vol. 2: The Birds. London: J. Murray. pp. 233, 490. The title page bears the year 1831 but the volume was not published until 1832.
↑ Mayr, Ernst; Paynter, Raymond A. Jr, eds. (1964). Check-List of Birds of the World. Vol. 10. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. p. 381.
↑ Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. p. 221. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
1 2 Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (January 2022). "Laughingthrushes and allies". IOC World Bird List Version 12.1. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
1 2 AviList Core Team (2025). "AviList: The Global Avian Checklist, v2025". doi:10.2173/avilist.v2025. Retrieved 2026-06-15.
↑ Hoyo, Josep del (2020). All the Birds of the World. Barcelona: Lynx edicions. p. 659. ISBN 978-84-16728-37-4.
↑ "Leiothrix lutea Red-billed Leiothrix Léiothrix jaune", The Birds of Africa : The Malagasy Region, Christopher Helm, retrieved 2026-08-19

Cibois, Alice (January 2003). "Mitochondrial DNA Phylogeny of Babblers (Timaliidae)". Auk. 120 (1): 1–20. Archived from the original on January 8, 2008 – via FindArticles.
Collar, N. J. & Robson C. 2007. Family Timaliidae (Babblers) pp. 70 – 291 in; del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A. & Christie, D.A. eds. Handbook of the Birds of the World, Vol. 12. Picathartes to Tits and Chickadees. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona.

[HM4-1] "Leiothrichidae". aviansystematics.org. The Trust for Avian Systematics. Retrieved 2023-07-15.

[2] Swainson, William; Richardson, J. (1831). Fauna Boreali-Americana, or, The Zoology of the Northern Parts of British America. Vol. 2: The Birds. London: J. Murray. pp. 233, 490. The title page bears the year 1831 but the volume was not published until 1832.

[3] Mayr, Ernst; Paynter, Raymond A. Jr, eds. (1964). Check-List of Birds of the World. Vol. 10. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. p. 381.

[4] Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. p. 221. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.

[ioc-5] 1 2 Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (January 2022). "Laughingthrushes and allies". IOC World Bird List Version 12.1. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 6 June 2022.

[avilist-6] 1 2 AviList Core Team (2025). "AviList: The Global Avian Checklist, v2025". doi:10.2173/avilist.v2025. Retrieved 2026-06-15.

[ABW-7] Hoyo, Josep del (2020). All the Birds of the World. Barcelona: Lynx edicions. p. 659. ISBN 978-84-16728-37-4.

[8] "Leiothrix lutea Red-billed Leiothrix Léiothrix jaune", The Birds of Africa : The Malagasy Region, Christopher Helm, retrieved 2026-08-19

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