Family: Timálidae (Timaliidae)
Group: Passeriformes
Technical name: Leiotrix lutea.
Its origin is Southeast Asia. Its natural habitat is the wooded areas of more than 600 meters of altitude, distributed from the north of Indochina to the Himalayas. They live in the forests in small groups and during the reproductive season they only come together in pairs.
In our country it has settled in the forests, and not in urban areas or humanized places as other introduced species have done, as discussed in Seo BirdLife. Specifically, they have settled in the Sierra de Collserola (Barcelona), where there is a large population of these birds, although they can also be seen in other areas of Catalonia and the Canary Islands.
In Spain it behaves like a resident species, although it is true that in winter it carries out short-distance migratory movements between nearby areas.
Its appearance is small and brightly colored
Its size is 15 centimeters. The Himalayan nightingale has bold, bright colors with a slightly forked tail. Grayish green captains its head, neck, back, sides, and upper tail feathers. The bright yellow throat turns orange in the chest area. Two colors that also appear on the wings and rump.
The beak is reddish-orange and narrow. The legs, flesh-colored. His c wave is not too long and have a long, thin adapted to life in the trees.
The differences between females and males are not very evident but they can be distinguished in that she has a less intense color on the head than the male and shows more muted tones throughout the body. Another difference is that the males sing and the females emit something similar to screams.
The Japanese nightingale is active and cheerful. As we have already suggested, it is a good singer, very similar to the one that the nightingale has, for this reason they have the same name even though they are from different poultry families. His songs are simple, short and sometimes repetitive.
They get along well with their congeners and also with other species, as long as it is outside the breeding season.
If we have them at home, we must provide them with a spacious interior cage. Better an elongated cage that allows them flight.
It is not difficult for them to breed. They lay 3 to 4 eggs that incubate for 12 days.
When they are in the breeding season, it builds a cup-shaped nest with leaves, moss and lichens on low horizontal forked branches. The downside of this procedure is that they are in full view of predators. The female Japanese nightingale lays three to five blue-green eggs with reddish spots, which are incubated alternately by both animals for about 12 days. The chicks will leave the nest at three weeks of age.
In our country, the breeding population reaches several hundred specimens, which are found almost exclusively in the autonomous community of Catalonia, where it is estimated that there are about 50-150 pairs.
It basically feeds on fruits, berries, seeds and small living invertebrates such as snails, insect larvae and spiders.
