Ashy-throated Parrotbill (Sinosuthora alphonsiana) [XC321835]
by id from Yaan Shi, Sichuan, China (song)
Ashy-throated Parrotbill (Sinosuthora alphonsiana) [XC179277]
by Lars Lachmann from Casale Litta, Varese, Lombardy, Italy (call)
Subspecies
Sometimes placed together with Spectacled Parrotbill (Sinosuthora conspicillata), Vinous-throated Parrotbill (Sinosuthora webbiana), Brown-winged Parrotbill (Sinosuthora brunnea), Grey-hooded Parrotbill (Sinosuthora zappeyi), Rusty-throated Parrotbill (Sinosuthora przewalskii), Fulvous Parrotbill (Suthora fulvifrons), Black-throated Parrotbill (Suthora nipalensis), Golden Parrotbill (Suthora verreauxi) and Pale-billed Parrotbill (Chleuasicus atrosuperciliaris) in a separate genus, Suthora. Considered conspecific with Vinous-throated Parrotbill (Sinosuthora webbiana) and Brown-winged Parrotbill (Sinosuthora brunnea) by some authors. Where range overlaps with that of former, the two species sometimes form mixed flocks in which occasional hybrids reported, e.g. in Vietnam (near Sa Pa, in western Tonkin), and hybrids seen also in north-western Italy (where both species introduced). In China, interbreeding reported in 1938 in central Sichuan, and a number of earlier specimens from that region were considered to exhibit a range of features intermediate between the two species, but insufficient details available; has been suggested that subspecies ganluoensis is one such intermediate form, but this highly unlikely, as its range is not in the overlap zone but closer to that of Brown-winged Parrotbill (Sinosuthora brunnea). Subspecies stresemanni has sometimes been merged with nominate, but is much closer to, and possibly synonymous with, yunnanensis. Introduced birds of present species in Europe may represent an undescribed subspecies. Further study is required.
The following 4 subspecies are recognised:
alphonsianus (Verreaux, 1870) - Mts. of west-central China (eastern Qinghai, eastern Sichuan and Guizhou).
ganluoensis (Li, G & Zhang, Q, 1980) - Ganluo region of south-central Sichuan (China).
stresemanni (Yen, 1934) - Guizhou and adjacent south-eastern Sichuan, in south-central China.
yunnanensis (La Touche, 1921) - Extreme southern China (south-eastern Yunnan) and extreme northern Vietnam (north-western Tonkin).
BirdLife International Species Factsheet