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:
Image Common name Scientific name DistributionReed parrotbillParadoxornis heudeieast Mongolia to east, northeast China and southeast RussiaBlack-breasted parrotbillParadoxornis flavirostrisHimalayas, northeast IndiaSpot-breasted parrotbillParadoxornis guttaticollisnortheast India to northwest Thailand and south ChinaGreat parrotbillParadoxornis aemodiusHimalayas, northeast Myanmar to central ChinaBrown parrotbillParadoxornis unicolorHimalayas to south ChinaThree-toed parrotbillParadoxornis paradoxusChinaGrey-headed parrotbillParadoxornis gularisHimalayas to north VietnamBlack-headed parrotbillParadoxornis margaritaesouth VietnamWhite-breasted parrotbillParadoxornis ruficepsnortheast India, Bhutan and adjacent south ChinaRufous-headed parrotbillParadoxornis bakerinortheast India to Vietnam
References