Wearing A Suit Of Blazing Sapphire Blue, Fiery Orange, And Ultramarine Renders Him Unmistakable!
In his range, he is unmistakable in his range wearing his suit of blazing sapphire blue, fiery orange, and ultramarine.
MEET THE HIMALAYAN BLUE-TAIL
The Himalayan bluetail or Himalayan red-flanked bush-robin (Tarsiger rufilatus) measures 15 cm in length weighing in at 11 – 14 grams. The male sports a dark blue head and upper parts, with iridescent pale blue supercilium and matching shoulder patches. He also wears a cobalt-blue rump, upper tail coverts, and a tail edged in a similar color. His chin, throat, and belly, are white flecked with gray, the flanks have a broad orange patch. His eyes are brown, his legs and bill black.
The female is duller than her male counterparts, wearing a suit of grey-brown with a sky-blue rump and white eyering. Her chin and throat are white, her breast gray-brown, with flanks a similar orange to the male.
Juvenile birds are dull brown with a light blue tail with a trace of orange on their flanks.
This bird is found in the Himalayas up to 3000 to 4400 meters, but not beyond the treeline.
They prefer to live in the bush layer (dwarf rhododendron in wetter areas, deciduous bushes in drier) of conifer and mixed conifer-oak forest, as well as main species fir (Abies) but sometimes in areas with Picea smithiana or Pinus wallichiana/Cupressus torulosa forest.
The Himalayan bluetail dines on insects, including beetles, however, they also take berries and seeds.
These birds breed from June through to July when they build a loose cup-shaped nest using moss, grass, wool, hair, and feathers, usually place in a crevice of a wall, rock, bank, or, in a pile of stones on the ground. Within a clutch of 4 to 6 eggs is laid and incubated for about 2 weeks by the female. Chicks will remain in the nest for around 2 weeks.
This bird is considered as of Least Concern on the IUCN Red List.
