{{Short description|Species of small passerine bird}} {{Speciesbox | name = Common iora | image = Common-ioraM-Sandeep.jpg | image_caption = Male | image2 = Common-ioraF-Sandeep.jpg | image2_caption = Female<br/> thumb|Call of Common Iora | status = LC | status_system = IUCN3.1 | status_ref = <ref name="iucn status 13 November 2021">{{cite iucn |author=BirdLife International |date=2016 |title=''Aegithina tiphia'' |volume=2016 |article-number=e.T22707433A94123624 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22707433A94123624.en |access-date=13 November 2021}}</ref> | genus = Aegithina | species = tiphia | authority = (Linnaeus, 1758) | synonyms = ''Motacilla tiphia'' {{small|Linnaeus, 1758}} }} [[File:Common Iora (ফটিকজল).jpg|thumb|''A. t. multicolor'': female in Satchari National Park, Bangladesh]] The '''common iora''' ('''''Aegithina tiphia''''') is a small passerine bird found across the tropical Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia, with populations showing plumage variations, some of which are designated as subspecies. A species found in scrub and forest, it is easily detected from its loud whistles and the bright colours. During the breeding season, males display by fluffing up their feathers and spiral in the air appearing like a green, black, yellow, and white ball.
==Taxonomy== In 1747 the English naturalist George Edwards included an illustration and a description of the common iora in the second volume of his ''A Natural History of Uncommon Birds''. He used the English name "The Green Indian Fly-Catcher". Edwards based his hand-coloured etching on a specimen that had been sent from Bengal to the silk-pattern designer and naturalist Joseph Dandridge in London.<ref>{{ cite book | last=Edwards | first=George | author-link=George Edwards (naturalist) | year=1747 | title=A Natural History of Uncommon Birds | location=London | publisher=Printed for the author at the College of Physicians | volume=Part II | page=79, Plate 79 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/50240789 }}</ref> When in 1758 the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus updated his ''Systema Naturae'' for the tenth edition, he placed the common iora in the genus ''Motacilla''. Linnaeus included a brief description, coined the binomial name ''Motacilla tiphia'' and cited Edwards' work.<ref>{{cite book | last=Linnaeus | first=Carl | author-link=Carl Linnaeus | year=1758 | title= Systema Naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis | volume=1 | edition=10th | page=186 | publisher=Laurentii Salvii | location=Holmiae (Stockholm) | language=Latin | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/727093 }}</ref> The common iora is now placed in the genus ''Aegithina'' that was introduced in 1816 by the French ornithologist Louis Pierre Vieillot.<ref>{{cite book | last=Vieillot | first=Louis Pierre | author-link=Louis Pierre Vieillot | year=1816 | title=Analyse d'une Nouvelle Ornithologie Élémentaire | publisher=Deterville/self | location=Paris | page = 44 | language=French| url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k9745205x/f50.item }}<!--BHL has a scan of an 1883 reprint - same pagination http://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/12830237 --></ref><ref name=ioc>{{cite web| editor1-last=Gill | editor1-first=Frank | editor1-link=Frank Gill (ornithologist) | editor2-last=Donsker | editor2-first=David | editor3-last=Rasmussen | editor3-first=Pamela | editor3-link=Pamela Rasmussen | date=July 2021 | title=Waxbills, parrotfinches, munias, whydahs, Olive Warbler, accentors, pipits | work=IOC World Bird List Version 11.2 | url=https://www.worldbirdnames.org/bow/weavers/ | publisher=International Ornithologists' Union | access-date=9 October 2021 }}</ref> The genus name ''Aegithina'' is from Ancient Greek ''aigithos'' or ''aiginthos'', a mythical bird mentioned by Aristotle and other classical authors. The etymology of specific epithet ''tiphia'' is uncertain. It may be from the Ancient Greek ''tuphē'', ''tiara'', from Tiphys who in Greek mythology was the helmsman of the Argonauts.<ref>{{cite book | last=Jobling | first=James A. | year=2010| title=The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names | publisher=Christopher Helm | location=London | isbn=978-1-4081-2501-4 | pages=[https://archive.org/stream/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling#page/n033/mode/1up 33], [https://archive.org/stream/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling#page/n386/mode/1up 386] }}</ref>
Eleven subspecies are recognised:<ref name=ioc/> * ''A. t. multicolor'' (Gmelin, JF, 1789) – southwest India and Sri Lanka * ''A. t. deignani'' Hall, BP, 1957 – south, east India and north, central Myanmar * ''A. t. humei'' Baker, ECS, 1922 – central peninsular India * ''A. t. tiphia'' (Linnaeus, 1758) – north India to west Myanmar * ''A. t. septentrionalis'' Koelz, 1939 – northwest Himalayas * ''A. t. philipi'' Oustalet, 1886 – south-central China, east Myanmar, north Thailand and north, central Indochina * ''A. t. cambodiana'' Hall, BP, 1957 – southeast Thailand, Cambodia and south Vietnam * ''A. t. horizoptera'' Oberholser, 1912 – southeast Myanmar and southwest Thailand, Malay Peninsula, Sumatra and nearby islands * ''A. t. scapularis'' (Horsfield, 1821) – Java and Bali * ''A. t. viridis'' (Bonaparte, 1850) – central, south Borneo * ''A. t. aequanimis'' Bangs, 1922 – north Borneo and west Philippines
==Description== Ioras have a pointed and notched beak with a culmen that is straight. The common iora is sexually dimorphic, males in the breeding season have a black cap and back adding to a black wing and tail at all seasons. Females have greenish wings and an olive tail. The undersides of both are yellow and the two white bars on the wings of the male are particularly prominent in their breeding plumage. The males in breeding plumage have a very variable distribution of the black on the upperparts and can be confused with Marshall's iora, however, the latter always has white tips to the tail.<ref name=pcr>{{cite book|author1=Rasmussen PC |author2=JC Anderton |year=2005| title= Birds of South Asia: The Ripley Guide. Volume 2|publisher=Smithsonian Institution & Lynx Edicions|pages=344–346}}</ref> The nominate subspecies is found along the Himalayas and males of this population are very similar to females or have only a small amount of black on the crown. In northwestern India, ''septentrionalis'' is brighter yellow than others and in the northern plains of India ''humei'' males in breeding plumage have a black cap and olive on the upper mantle. In southwestern India and Sri Lanka ''multicolor'' has the breeding males with a jet black cap and mantle. The forms in the rest of southern India are intermediate between ''multicolor'' and ''humei'' with more grey-green on the rump (formerly considered as ''deignani'' but now used for the Burmese population).<ref name=pcr/><ref name=fbi2>{{cite book|pages=339–343|url=https://archive.org/stream/faunaofbritishin01bake#page/339/mode/1up|author=Baker, ECS|title=Fauna of British India. Birds. Volume 1| publisher=Taylor and Francis, London|year=1922|edition=2nd}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|author=Wells, D.R.|author2=E.C. Dickinson|author3=R.W.R.J. Dekker|name-list-style=amp| title= Systematic notes on Asian birds. 34. A preliminary review of the Aegithinidae|journal=Zool. Verh. Leiden |volume=344| year=2003|pages= 7–15|url=http://www.repository.naturalis.nl/document/46744}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author1=Dickinson, E.C. |author2=R.W.R.J. Dekker |author3=S. Eck |author4=S. Somadikarta |name-list-style=amp |title=Systematic notes on Asian birds. 35. Types of the Aegithinidae |journal=Zool. Verh. Leiden |volume=344 |year=2003 |pages=17–24 |url=http://www.naturalis.nl/sites/naturalis.en/contents/i000308/snab035.pdf |access-date=2010-09-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071026003824/http://www.naturalis.nl//sites/naturalis.en/contents/i000308/snab035.pdf |archive-date=2007-10-26 }}</ref> thumb|Common Iora, Male, Pune Several other populations across Southeast Asia are designated as subspecies including ''philipi'' of southern China and northern Thailand/Laos, ''deignani'' of Myanmar, ''horizoptera'' of southern Myanmar and the island chain of Sumatra, ''cambodiana'' of Cambodia, ''aeqanimis'' of Palawan and northern Borneo, ''viridis'' of Borneo and ''scapularis'' of Java and Bali.<ref>{{cite book|pages=300–302|url=https://archive.org/stream/checklistofbirds91960pete#page/300/mode/1up/|title=Check-list of the birds of the world. Volume 9|editor=Mayr E|editor2=JC Greenway|editor-link=Ernst Mayr|editor2-link=James Greenway|year=1960|publisher=Museum of Comparative Zoology, Massachusetts}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|author=Marien, D |year=1952| title= The systematics of ''Aegithina nigrolutea'' and ''Aegithina tiphia'' (Aves, Irenidae)| journal= Am. Mus. Novit.|volume=1589|pages=1–17| hdl=2246/4066}}</ref>
==Behaviour and ecology== Ioras forage in trees in small groups, gleaning among the branches for insects. They sometimes join mixed species feeding flocks. The call is a mixture of ''churrs'', chattering and whistles, and the song is a trilled ''wheeeee-tee''. They may sometimes imitate the calls of other birds such as drongos.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Mimicry by common Iora ''Aegithina tiphia''|author=Bharos, A. M. K.|journal=J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc.|year=1998|volume=95| issue=1| page=116|url=https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/48604636}}</ref> [[File:Common Iora (Aegithina tiphia) in Hyderabad W IMG 8863.jpg|thumb|left|''A. t. multicolor'': male in Hyderabad, India]] During the breeding season, mainly after the monsoons, the male performs an acrobatic courtship display, darting up into the air fluffing up all his feathers, especially those on the pale green rump, then spiralling down to the original perch. Once he lands, he spreads his tail and droops his wings.<ref name=fbi2/> Two to four greenish white eggs are laid in a small and compact cup-shaped nest made out of grass and bound with cobwebs and placed in the fork of a tree. Both male and female incubate<ref>{{cite journal|author=Wesley, H Daniel |year=1984| title= Frequency and duration of incubation of the eggs for ''Aegithina tiphia''| journal=J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. |volume=81|issue=1|pages=193–195|url=https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/48874101}}</ref> and eggs hatch after about 14 days. Nests predators include snakes, lizards, crow-pheasant and crows.<ref>{{cite journal|author=Ali, S |year=1931| title= Casualties among the eggs and young of small birds|journal=J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc.|volume=34|issue=4|pages=1062–1067|url=https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/48294439}}</ref> Nests may also be brood-parasitized by the banded bay cuckoo.<ref name=hbk>{{cite book|author1=Ali, S |author2=SD Ripley|pages=47–54|title=Handbook of the Birds of India and Pakistan. Volume 6|edition=2nd|year=1996|publisher=Oxford University Press}}</ref>
Ioras moult twice in a year and the plumage variation makes them somewhat complicated for plumage based separation of the populations.<ref name=hbk/>
A species of ''Haemoproteus'', ''H. aethiginae'', was described from a specimen of the common iora from Goa.<ref>{{cite journal|author= de Mello, I. |title= New hæmoproteids of some Indian birds | journal= Proceedings of the Indian Academy of Sciences, Section B | year=1935|volume=2|issue=5|pages=469–475|doi=10.1007/BF03053034 |s2cid= 82402365 }}</ref>
==Gallery== <gallery perrow="6"> File:Common Iora (Aegithina tiphia) in Hyderabad W IMG 8862.jpg|''A. t. multicolor'': male calling in Hyderabad, India. File:Common Iora (Aegithina tiphia) in Hyderabad W IMG 5622.jpg|''A. t. multicolor'': female in Hyderabad File:Common Iora (Aegithina tiphia) in Hyderabad W IMG 5618.jpg|''A. t. multicolor'': female in Hyderabad File:Common Iora (Aegithina tiphia) in Narshapur, AP W IMG 1144.jpg|''A. t. multicolor'': female in Narsapur, Medak district, India Image:Common Iora (Aegithina tiphia) in Hyderabad, AP W2 IMG 9809.jpg|''A. t. multicolor'': male in Hyderabad File:Common Iora (Aegithina tiphia) in Kawal, AP W IMG 1517.jpg|''A. t. multicolor'': female in Narsapur File:Common Iora (Aegithina tiphia) calling W IMG_7709.jpg|''A. t. multicolor'': male calling in Shamirpet, Rangareddy district, Andhra Pradesh, India Image:Aegithina tiphia-20080910.jpg|Adult breeding male, Singapore Image:Aegithina tiphia-20080910B.jpg|Adult breeding male, Singapore Image:Common Iora scientific name Aegithina tiphia by Sumita Roy Dutta at Sajnekhali Bird Sanctuary IMG 8289.jpg|Common Iora: female at Sajnakhali Wildlife Sanctuary </gallery>
<gallery perrow="4" widths="180" heights="170" caption="Museum specimens for subspecies at Naturalis"> File:Naturalis Biodiversity Center - RMNH.AVES.92893 1 - Aegithina tiphia aequanimis Bangs, 1922 - Irenidae - bird skin specimen.jpeg|''Aegithina tiphia aequanimis Bangs, 1922'', male File:Naturalis Biodiversity Center - RMNH.AVES.92894 1 - Aegithina tiphia aequanimis Bangs, 1922 - Irenidae - bird skin specimen.jpeg|''Aegithina tiphia aequanimis Bangs, 1922'', female File:Naturalis Biodiversity Center - RMNH.AVES.126754 1 - Aegithina tiphia multicolor (Gmelin, 1789) - Irenidae - bird skin specimen.jpeg|''Aegithina tiphia multicolor (Gmelin, 1789)'', male File:Naturalis Biodiversity Center - RMNH.AVES.126760 1 - Aegithina tiphia multicolor (Gmelin, 1789) - Irenidae - bird skin specimen.jpeg|''Aegithina tiphia multicolor (Gmelin, 1789)'', female </gallery> <!-- Hall,BP (1957): The taxonomic importance of variation in non-breeding plumage in ''Aegithina tiphia'' and ''A. nigrolutea''. Ibis 99, 143-156. -->
== References == {{Reflist|2}}
== External links == * [http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/species/index.html?action=SpcHTMDetails.asp&sid=6147&m=0 BirdLife Species Factsheet] * [http://ibc.lynxeds.com/species/common-iora-aegithina-tiphia Common Iora videos, photos & sounds] on the Internet Bird Collection * {{cite journal |author1=F. N. Chasen |author2=C. Boden Kloss |year=1931 |title=Five New Malaysian Birds |journal=Bulletin of the Raffles Museum |volume=5 |url=https://lkcnhm.nus.edu.sg/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/app/uploads/2017/06/05brm082-086.pdf |pages=82–86}}, describing ''Aegithina tiphia singapurensis'', now considered a synonym of ''Aegithina tiphia horizoptera''
{{Taxonbar|from=Q26537}}
Category:Aegithinidae Category:Birds of Indomalaya Category:Birds described in 1758 Category:Animal taxa named by Carl Linnaeus