Vinous-throated Parrotbill (Sinosuthora webbiana)

Vinous-throated Parrotbill

The Vinous-throated Parrotbill (Sinosuthora webbiana) is a small bird native to East Asia including Japan, North and South Korea, China, Mongolia, eastern Russia, Taiwan, and Vietnam. In addition, a population of several thousand birds has become established in northern Italy since the 1990s. Throughout its original range, the species can be found in a number of different habitats, for example, forests, marshlands, urban parks, and even tea plantations. The birds are very social and usually live in groups of variable sizes (usually around 10, only rarely more than 100 individuals). They are very agile, hopping through the undergrowth in search of seeds, insects, spiders, etc. Due to this acrobatic behaviour, the birds were commonly kept as cage birds in China and Japan. I have photographed this species during a walk through the Olympic Forest Park in Beijing, China, with fellow blogger Marie Louise in August 2015.