Rusty-cheeked Scimitar-Babbler

About the Rusty-cheeked Scimitar-Babbler

The rusty-cheeked scimitar babbler (Erythrogenys erythrogenys) is a passerine bird in the babbler family Timaliidae that is found in the Himalayas from northeast Pakistan to Bhutan. It was formerly considered as conspecific with the red-eyed scimitar babbler that is found in eastern Myanmar and northwestern Thailand.

The rusty-cheeked scimitar babbler was formally described in 1831 by the Irish zoologist Nicholas Vigors under the binomial name Pamatorhynus erythrogenys in John Gould's book "Century of Birds from the Himalaya Mountains". The description was accompanied by a hand coloured illustration drawn by Elizabeth Gould. In 1924 the type locality was restricted to "Shimla–Almora". The specific epithet combines the Ancient Greek ερυθρος/eruthros meaning "red" with γενυος/genuos meaning "cheek". The rusty-cheeked scimitar babbler is now one of seven scimitar babblers placed in the genus Erythrogenys. The species was formerly regarded as conspecific with the red-eyed scimitar babbler (Erythrogenys imberbis) that is found in eastern Myanmar and northwestern Thailand. The red-eyed scimitar babbler is now considered as a separate species based on the differences in morphology... Wikipedia →