Brown Parrotbill

Open encyclopedia reference

The brown parrotbill (Paradoxornis unicolor) is a bird found in the central and eastern Himalayas. It is also known as the brown suthora. This is a grey-brown bird 17–19 cm (6.7–7.5 in) long with a long tail and a characteristic small, yellowish, parrot-like bill. A dark stripe runs above the eyes and along the sides of the crown. The bird moves in small groups and will sometimes join mixed species foraging flocks. It is found in Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, and Nepal. It breeds in bamboo and rhododendron scrub at altitudes of 2,700–3,400 m (8,900–11,200 ft), with some altitudinal migration down to 2,000 m (6,600 ft) in winter. It was originally described by Brian Houghton Hodgson in the genus Hemirhynchus, this species was later moved to the genus Heteromorpha. It is now usually treated as a member of the family Paradoxornithidae, where its closest relative is the three-toed parrotbill. It is currently considered monotypic; two named subspecies, P. u. canaster, described by Thayer and Bangs in 1912 from Hsikang, and P. u.

Wikipedia contributors, Brown parrotbill; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T05:25:09.022902+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name

Paradoxornis unicolor (Hodgson, 1843)

Name authority

(Hodgson, 1843)

Common name

Brown Parrotbill

Rank

species

Accepted status

accepted

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Aves

Order

Passeriformes

Family

Paradoxornithidae

Genus

Paradoxornis

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.

1. domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
2. kingdomAnimalia
3. phylumChordata
4. subphylumVertebrata
5. infraphylumGnathostomata
6. parvphylumOsteichthyes
7. megaclassTetrapoda
8. classAves
9. orderPasseriformes
10. familyParadoxornithidae
11. genusParadoxornis Gould, 1836
12. speciesParadoxornis unicolor (Hodgson, 1843)

Close classified relatives

These entries share the source’s genus, Paradoxornis. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.

Browse 28 records assigned to Paradoxornithidae.

Names & synonyms

Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.

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.

1. https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=561828 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. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.

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:75MWV. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.