Rufous Treepie

Appearance

The sexes are alike and the main colour of the body is cinnamon with a black head and the long graduated tail is bluish grey and is tipped in black. The wing has a white patch. The only confusable species is the Grey Treepie which however lacks the bright rufous mantle. The bill is stout with a hooked tip. The underparts and lower back are a warm tawny-brown to orange-brown in colour with white wing coverts and black primaries. The bill, legs and feet are black.

The widespread populations show variations and several subspecies are recognized. The nominate subspecies is found in the northeastern part of peninsular India south to Hyderabad. The desert form is paler and called "pallida", "vernayi" of the Eastern Ghats is brighter while "parvula" of the Western Ghats is smaller in size. The form in Afghanistan and Pakistan is "bristoli" while the form in southern Thailand is "saturatior". E C Stuart Baker describes "sclateri" from the upper Chindwin to the Chin Hills and "kinneari" from souther Myanmar and northwest Thailand. The population in eastern Thailand an Indochina is "sakeratensis".

Distribution

The range of this species is quite large, covering all of mainland India up to the Himalayas, and southeasterly in a broad band into Burma, Laos, and Thailand in open forest consisting of scrub, plantations and gardens.

Behavior

The Rufous Treepie is an arboreal omnivore feeding almost completely in trees on fruits, seeds, invertebrates, small reptiles and the eggs and young of birds; it has also been known to take flesh from recently killed carcasses. It is an agile forager, clinging and clambering through the branches and sometimes joining mixed hunting parties along with species such as drongos and babblers. It has been observed feeding on ecto-parasites of wild deer. Like many other corvids they are known to cache food. They have been considered to be beneficial to palm cultivation in southern India due to their foraging on the grubs of the destructive weevil "Rhynchophorus ferrugineus". They are known to feed on the fruits of "Trichosanthes palmata" which are toxic to mammals.

The breeding season in India is April to June. The nest is built in trees and bushes and is usually a shallow platform. There are usually 3-5 eggs laid.

This species has a wide repertoire of calls, but a "bob-o-link" or "ko-tree" call is most common. A local name for this bird "kotri" is derived from the typical call while other names include "Handi Chancha" and "taka chor".

A blood parasitic protozoan "Trypanosoma corvi" has been described from this species and "Babesia" has been reported from this species. Trematode parasites, "Haplorchis vagabundi", have been found in their intestines. A species of quill mite "Syringophiloidus dendrocittae" has been described from this species.

Habitat

The Rufous Treepie is an arboreal omnivore feeding almost completely in trees on fruits, seeds, invertebrates, small reptiles and the eggs and young of birds; it has also been known to take flesh from recently killed carcasses. It is an agile forager, clinging and clambering through the branches and sometimes joining mixed hunting parties along with species such as drongos and babblers. It has been observed feeding on ecto-parasites of wild deer. Like many other corvids they are known to cache food. They have been considered to be beneficial to palm cultivation in southern India due to their foraging on the grubs of the destructive weevil "Rhynchophorus ferrugineus". They are known to feed on the fruits of "Trichosanthes palmata" which are toxic to mammals.

The breeding season in India is April to June. The nest is built in trees and bushes and is usually a shallow platform. There are usually 3-5 eggs laid.

This species has a wide repertoire of calls, but a "bob-o-link" or "ko-tree" call is most common. A local name for this bird "kotri" is derived from the typical call while other names include "Handi Chancha" and "taka chor".

A blood parasitic protozoan "Trypanosoma corvi" has been described from this species and "Babesia" has been reported from this species. Trematode parasites, "Haplorchis vagabundi", have been found in their intestines. A species of quill mite "Syringophiloidus dendrocittae" has been described from this species.