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The male of Himalayan Rubythroat has the upper parts of dark-slate color with the olive tinge sharper expressed on the rear part of the back; white broad supercilium; black cheeks, lore, flanks of throat, and all breast. The chin and throat are brightly red. All other under parts are dirty white. The flight feathers are brownish in well contrast with upper parts color. The tail is dichromatic; the central pair of the tail feathers is brownish; other ones are white in the basic part; the broad terminal band is slaty-black with the white drop-shaped spots on the outer feathers. The female is plain brown olive tinged; the flight feathers are same color. The under parts are dirty-grey, almost white on the throat and abdomen. Most of females have plain dark-brown tail but always with white or buffy spots on the tops of the webs. But some females have the tails colored same as on males. The beak is black, the legs are blackish-brown, the eyes are dark brown. Juveniles in first plumage are mottled; the brownish body feathers and the outer secondaries have the small terminal buffy spots. The under parts are dirty-white with the scaly pattern. The uppertail is rusty. Weight - 19-25 grams, wing - 66,0-76,5, tail 53,7-69,2 mm.

Biology

The Himalayan Rubythroat is common breeding migrant. It inhabits the shrub juniper belt with the meadows and sometimes singles spruce trees at 2500-2700 m in Talasskiy Alatau, 2500-3000 m in Zailiyskiy Alatau and up to 3200-3300 m in Terskey Alatau. On migration at once it was observed in the bush on foothill plain. It arrives in the end of April – mid-May, males arrive at first. The pairs are formed soon after the appearance of the females. It breeds in separate pairs at 100-300, rare of 30 m from each other. The nest is built for 3-6 days by female only, on the ground under the grass, tussock, juniper or spruce twig or under the stone; from the dry grass and moss and is lined with the thin grass, sometimes the hairs are added. Clutches of 2-6, usually 4-5 blue eggs; first clutch found in mid-May, second one in mid-June - July. Only female incubates for 13-15 days. Both parents feed juveniles fledged at 16 days old; in the end of June – early August. Most often Himalayan Rubythroats bring to the nestlings the caterpillars, grasshoppers, bunches of gnats and sometimes little lizards. After the juveniles fledging it sometimes eats honeysuckle's berries. Both adults and juveniles molt on the wintering. Two broods per season; repeated breeding after losing of the first nest is often. In autumn it disappears very early, soon after the juveniles fledge. Latest birds on Bolshoye Almatinskoye lake recorded in the end of August.

References

Э.И.Гаврилов. "Фауна и распространение птиц Казахстана". Алматы, 1999. Gavrilov E. I., Gavrilov A. E. "The Birds of Kazakhstan". Almaty, 2005. "Птицы Казахстана" том 3. "Наука". Алма-Ата, 1970. А.Ф.Ковшарь "Певчие птицы". Алма-Ата, "Кайнар", 1983.