NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Dark-backed Sibia
Heterophasia melanoleuca (Blyth, 1859)
Source-backed taxonomic record
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Dark-backed Sibia (Heterophasia melanoleuca) at Doi Lang, Chiang Mai Thailand
Jason Thompson · CC BY 2.0 · Image sourceProvider-generated thumbnail requested at 800 pixels; no local editing Local WebP display rendition; resized without cropping.
Open encyclopedia reference
The dark-backed sibia (Heterophasia melanoleuca) is a bird species in the family Leiothrichidae. In former times it was included the black-headed sibia, H. desgodinsi. Together with most other sibias, it is sometimes separated in the genus Malacias. It is found in China, Myanmar and Thailand. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.
Wikipedia contributors, Dark-backed sibia; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T06:21:13.661612+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Heterophasia melanoleuca (Blyth, 1859)
- Name authority
- (Blyth, 1859)
- Common name
- Dark-backed Sibia
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Leiothrichidae
- Genus
- Heterophasia
- Extinction status
- Recorded extant
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classAves
- orderPasseriformes
- familyLeiothrichidae Swainson, 1832
- genusHeterophasia Blyth, 1842
- speciesHeterophasia melanoleuca (Blyth, 1859)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Heterophasia. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Rufous SibiaHeterophasia capistrata (Vigors, 1831) | LeiothrichidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Black-headed SibiaHeterophasia desgodinsi (Oustalet, 1877) | LeiothrichidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Grey SibiaHeterophasia gracilis (Horsfield, 1840) | LeiothrichidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Long-tailed SibiaHeterophasia picaoides (Hodgson, 1839) | LeiothrichidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Beautiful SibiaHeterophasia pulchella (Godwin-Austen, 1874) | LeiothrichidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| White-eared SibiaHeterophasia auricularis (Swinhoe, 1864) | LeiothrichidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Sibia melanoleuca Blyth, 1859 Blyth, 1859 | synonym |
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=560435 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:3LBVR. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.