Coral-billed Scimitar Babbler (Pomatorhinus ferruginosus) [XC655660]
by Jelle Scharringa from Mae Wong, Kumpangpet, Thailand (call)
Coral-billed Scimitar Babbler (Pomatorhinus ferruginosus) [XC328285]
by Thijs Fijen from Tambon Khlong Nam Lai, Amphoe Khlong Lan, Chang Wat Kamphaeng Phet, Thailand (call)
Subspecies
Nominate subspecies perhaps better considered a separate species from other subspecies on grounds of its different head pattern and crown-feather shape; such treatment possibly supported by vocal characteristics, but more samples needed. Subspecies stanfordi, formosus and phayrei form a group.
Proposed subspecies mariae (from Toungoo Hills, in Myanmar) synonymized with albogularis owing to improbable distribution, but is slightly weaker buff below than latter and worthy of further investigation; namdapha (extreme eastern Arunachal Pradesh, in north-eastern India) treated as synonym of stanfordi. Birds in central Laos paler below than orientalis and may represent an undescribed subspecies.
The following 7 subspecies are recognised:
ferruginosus Blyth, 1845 - Eastern Nepal east to north-eastern India (central Arunachal Pradesh) and adjacent southern China (south-eastern Xizang).
stanfordi Ticehurst, 1935 - Eastern Arunachal Pradesh, northern Myanmar and southern China (western Yunnan).
formosus Koelz, 1952 - North-eastern India (Meghalaya east to Nagaland and Manipur).
phayrei Blyth, 1847 - Mizoram (north-eastern India) and south-western Myanmar. Considered by some authors to be a distinct species, Brown-crowned Scimitar-babbler (Pomatorhinus phayrei).
albogularis Blyth, 1855 - Southern and south-eastern Myanmar (including northern and central Tenasserim), north-western and western Thailand and north-western Laos.
orientalis Delacour, 1927 - Southern China (south-eastern Yunnan), north-eastern Laos and northern Vietnam (Tonkin, northern Annam).
BirdLife International Species Factsheet