Fulvous Parrotbill

The fulvous parrotbill is a small bird 12–12.5 cm long, of the family Paradoxornithidae. The plumage of the nominate is dominated by a rich buff head, upper wing coverts, flanks, rump and tail, with a white belly, and the face is dominated by a black stripe above the eye that widens towards the middle and then narrows again, with a faint white stripe below the face. There are four subspecies, the nominate from central Nepal, Bhutan and north-east India, chayulensis from north India and south China, albifacies from north Burma and nearby south China, and cyanophrys from central China (Wikipedia, general species account).

It lives in montane stands at 2,440–3,660 m, most commonly above 2,700 m but sometimes down to 1,700 m, and is not thought to be migratory. It feeds on the buds of bamboo and birches, tiny seeds and insects, and forms flocks of up to 20 or 30 birds when not breeding. Both parents build the bowl-shaped nest of bamboo leaves, rootlets and mosses in dense bamboo, incubate the eggs and care for the nestlings. SoIB 2023 rates it a High conservation priority, a resident forest bird that eats plants and seeds, with a Very Restricted range of about 3,420 km² and insufficient data on trends (Wikipedia, general species account; SoIB 2023).