Schoeniparus is a genus of small passerine birds in the family Pellorneidae. They are found in the eastern Himalayas, Mainland Southeast Asia, southern China and Taiwan.
Taxonomy The genus Schoeniparus was introduced in 1874 by the English naturalist Allan Octavian Hume. As Hume did not specify a type species for the genus, in 1883 Richard Bowdler Sharpe designated the type as Minla rufogularis Mandelli, 1873, the rufous-throated fulvetta. The genus name combines the Ancient Greek σχοινος/skhoinos meaning "reed" or "rush" with the genus name Parus that had been introduced in 1758 by Carl Linnaeus for the tits.
The species in genus Schoeniparus were formerly placed in the genus Alcippe with other fulvettas. Genetic analysis found the latter genus polyphyletic and Schoeniparus was resurrected for a group of seven species.
The genus currently contains the following seven species:
Image Common name Scientific name Distribution Golden-fronted fulvetta Schoeniparus variegaticeps southern China. Yellow-throated fulvetta Schoeniparus cinereus eastern Himalayas and northern Laos Rufous-winged fulvetta Schoeniparus castaneceps eastern Himalayas and Indochina Black-crowned fulvetta Schoeniparus klossi Vietnam. Rufous-throated fulvetta Schoeniparus rufogularissoutheastern Asia from the Himalayas through Indochina to southwestern Cambodia. Rusty-capped fulvetta Schoeniparus dubiusBhutan, China, India, Laos, Myanmar, and Vietnam. Dusky fulvetta Schoeniparus brunneusChina and Taiwan.
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