{{Short description|Species of bird}} {{Speciesbox | name = Grey hypocolius | status = LC | status_system = IUCN3.1 | status_ref = <ref name="iucn status 12 November 2021">{{cite iucn |author=BirdLife International |year=2019 |title=''Hypocolius ampelinus'' |amends=2018 |article-number=e.T22713263A155510808 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-2.RLTS.T22713263A155510808.en |access-date=12 November 2021}}</ref> | image = Hypocolius ampelinus pair.JPG | image_caption = Male (left) and female (Great Rann of Kutch) | grandparent_authority = Delacour & Amadon, 1949 | parent_authority = Bonaparte, 1850 | display_parents = 3 | taxon = Hypocolius ampelinus | authority = Bonaparte, 1850<ref>{{cite book|author=Finsch, Otto|title=Index ad Caroli Luciani Bonaparte Conspectum Generum Avium|year=1865| publisher=E J Brill|url=https://archive.org/stream/indexadcaroliluc00fins#page/12/mode/2up}}</ref> }}
The '''grey hypocolius'''<ref>[http://www.worldbirdnames.org/updates-en.html ENGLISH NAME UPDATES - IOC Version 2.9 (10 July 2011)] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120303183421/http://www.worldbirdnames.org/updates-en.html |date=3 March 2012 }}, IOC World Bird List</ref> or simply '''hypocolius''' ('''''Hypocolius ampelinus''''') is a small passerine bird species. It is the sole member of the genus '''''Hypocolius''''' and it is placed in a family of its own, the '''Hypocoliidae'''. This slender and long tailed bird is found in the dry semi-desert region of northern Africa, Arabia, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and western India. They fly in flocks and forage mainly on fruit but also some insects, migrating south in winter. During migration they are often found feeding on the fruit of ''Salvadora persica''.
==Description== The grey hypocolius is a slim bird with a long tail, slight crest and thick, short hook-tipped bill. Its shape and soft, satiny plumage resembles that of the waxwing. Birds are mainly a uniform grey or brownish-grey colour, with males having a black triangular mask around the eyes. They have white-tipped black primary wing feathers and a black terminal band on the tail. Adults are about {{cvt|19|–|21|cm}} in length.<ref name=pcr>{{cite book|author1=Rasmussen, PC |author2=JC Anderton |year=2005| title=Birds of South Asia: The Ripley Guide. Volume 2|page=332| publisher=Smithsonian Institution & Lynx Edicions}}</ref>
The head feathers are raised when the bird is excited. They fly in a straight non-undulating style and when hopping in shrubbery, can appear like a babbler. The tarsus is short and sturdy with coarse scales. There are rictal bristles visible at the base of the bill and the nostrils are exposed, small and oval.<ref name=hbk>{{cite book|title=Handbook of the birds of India and Pakistan|pages=268–270|year=1986|volume=5|edition=2nd|author1=Ali, S |author2=S D Ripley|publisher=Oxford University Press}}</ref>
==Taxonomy== The relationships of the species were formerly unclear. Earlier authors had suggested that they were related to the bulbuls<ref name=BOA/> or shrikes.<ref>{{cite book| url=https://archive.org/stream/handbooktobirdso00barnrich#page/148/mode/2up/search/hypocolius |title=Handbook to the birds of the Bombay Presidency|author=Barnes, HE|year=1885|publisher=Calcutta Central Press}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|title=Note on the Systematic Position of Hypocolius.|author=Lowe, Percy R.| doi=10.1111/j.1096-3642.1947.tb00501.x| year=1947| journal=Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London| volume=117| issue=1| pages=109–114}}</ref> They appear to be related to the waxwings, and at least one study based on molecular sequences suggests that it belongs to the same group.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Clarifying the systematics of an enigmatic avian lineage: What is a Bombycillid? |author1=Spellman, Garth M. |author2=Alice Cibois |author3=Robert G. Moyle |author4=Kevin Winker |author5=F. Keith Barker |journal=Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution |volume=49 |year=2008|pages=1036–1040 |doi=10.1016/j.ympev.2008.09.006|url= http://www.uaf.edu/museum/bird/personnel/KWinker/Spellman%20et%20al%20Bombycillidae%20MP&E%202008.pdf|pmid=18824237|issue=3|pmc=2627281}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|title=Phylogenetic relationships within Passerida (Aves: Passeriformes): A review and a new molecular phylogeny based on three nuclear intron markers|author=Johansson, Ulf S.|author2=Jon Fjeldså, Rauri C.K. Bowie|journal=Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution|volume=48|year=2008|pages=858–876|url=http://www.nrm.se/download/18.7d9d550411abf68c801800015111/Johansson+et+al+Passerida+2008.pdf|doi=10.1016/j.ympev.2008.05.029|pmid=18619860|issue=3|access-date=2009-11-14|archive-date=2021-09-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210909190624/https://www.nrm.se/download/18.7d9d550411abf68c801800015111/Johansson+et+al+Passerida+2008.pdf}}</ref> A 2019 study found them to be in a clade containing the palmchat (Dulidae), waxwings (Bombycillidae), silky-flycatchers (Ptiliogonatidae), hylocitrea (Hylocitreidae), and the extinct Hawaiian honeyeaters (Mohoidae), with Hypocoliidae being a sister group to the Mohoidae (with both diverging about 15-20 mya during the early-mid Miocene), and the clade containing Mohoidae and Hypocoliidae being sister to Hylocitreidae, which diverged slightly earlier in the Miocene.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Oliveros|first1=Carl H.|last2=Field|first2=Daniel J.|last3=Ksepka|first3=Daniel T.|last4=Barker|first4=F. Keith|last5=Aleixo|first5=Alexandre|last6=Andersen|first6=Michael J.|last7=Alström|first7=Per|last8=Benz|first8=Brett W.|last9=Braun|first9=Edward L.|last10=Braun|first10=Michael J.|last11=Bravo|first11=Gustavo A.|date=2019-04-16|title=Earth history and the passerine superradiation|journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences|language=en|volume=116|issue=16|pages=7916–7925|doi=10.1073/pnas.1813206116|issn=0027-8424|pmid=30936315|pmc=6475423|doi-access=free}}</ref>
==Distribution and habitat== The grey hypocolius ranges through the Middle East, breeding in the Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Turkmenistan area,<ref>{{cite journal|title=Sorkoputov sviristel (Hypocolius ampelinus) (Aves, Bombycillidae) gnezdyashchiisya vid fauny SSSR|author1=A. Peklo |author2=O. Sopyev |journal=Vestn. Zool.|year=1980|pages=47–52|language=Russian}}</ref> and wintering mostly near the Red Sea and Persian Gulf coasts of Arabia, including Bahrain. It is a vagrant to Turkey, Israel, Egypt and Oman. They are regular winter visitors to the Kutch and Jamnagar region of western India<ref>{{cite journal|author=Shekar, PB |year=1960 |title= Further additions to the birds of Kutch| journal= J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc.|volume=57| issue=1|pages= 224–225|url=https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/47541752}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|author=Tiwari, JK|author2=Varu, SN|author3=Himmatsinhji, MK|author3-link=Himmatsinhji M. K. |year=1996 |title= The occurrence of Grey Hypocolius ''Hypocolius ampelinus'' in Kutch, Gujarat, India|journal= Forktail| volume=11|pages=33–38}}</ref> and vagrants have been noted as far south as Kihim near Bombay.<ref>{{cite journal|author=Ali, Salim A |year=1931|title= The occurrence of the Grey Hypocolius (''Hypocolius ampelinus'') in North Konkan|journal= J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. |volume=34|issue=4|page=1061|url=https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/48294438}}</ref> It is found in woodland and scrub in arid and semiarid regions, especially river valleys near deserts, as well as in irrigated and cultivated areas with trees, sea costal area, palm groves and gardens.<ref name=BOA>{{cite book|author=Meinertzhagen, R|year= 1954| title=Birds of Arabia| publisher=Oliver & Boyd: Edinburgh}}</ref><ref name=King1997/>
==Behaviour==
The grey hypocolius is a shy and unobtrusive, even cryptic, bird which will fly to thick cover when disturbed, where it will remain motionless until the perceived danger has passed. Its flight is strong and direct, without undulation.<ref name=pcr/> It will form flocks, especially in winter, and roost communally.<ref name=King1997>[http://www.hawar-islands.com/hypocolius.html King, Howard. (1997). ''Grey Hypocolius - a Bahrain Experience'']</ref>
===Breeding=== [[File:Hypocolius ampelinus MHNT.ZOO.2010.11.179.5.jpg|thumb|''Hypocolius ampelinus'' - (MHNT)]] The breeding season is mid May to mid July in Arabia, typically with two broods. The nest is cup shaped and deep lined with hair and fluff. The nest is typically placed in thorny shrubs or on the leaves of a date palm, at a height of 1–4 metres above the ground.<ref name = "HBW">{{Cite book | last1 = Porter | first1 = R. | last2 = Aspinall | first2 = S. | editor-first = Josep | editor-last = del Hoyo | editor2-first = Andrew | editor2-last = Elliott | editor3-first = David | editor3-last = Christie | contribution = Family Hypocoliidae (Hypocolius) | title = Handbook of the Birds of the World. Volume 10: Cuckoo-shrikes to Thrushes | year = 2005 | pages = 320-325| place = Barcelona | publisher = Lynx Edicions | isbn = 84-87334-72-5 }}</ref> Both the male and female take part in nest building. The clutch is three to five eggs. The eggs are leaden white with blotches. Both parents incubate and feed the chicks; hatching is after 14–15 days, and fledging 13–14 days after hatching.<ref name = "HBW"/><ref>{{cite book| page=162 |url=https://archive.org/stream/nestseggsofindia01humerich#page/162/mode/2up/search/hypocolius | title = The nests and eggs of Indian birds. Volume 1| author=Hume, A O | year=1889|publisher=R H Porter}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|pages=356–358| url=https://archive.org/stream/birds01bakeiala#page/356/mode/2up/search/hypocolius |title=The Fauna of British India, Including Ceylon and Burma. Birds. Volume 1| publisher=Taylor and Francis, London| year=1922|author= Baker, ECS}}</ref> They are moderately gregarious during the breeding season, nesting in loose colonies of up to 40 pairs, each pair defending only a small area immediately around the nest.<ref name = "HBW"/>
===Feeding=== Grey hypocolius forages quietly and methodically in foliage, through clusters of trees, palm groves and orchards. It mostly takes fruit in the canopy, but also readily comes to the ground to eat fallen fruit, particularly dates. They eat some insects, but their main diet consists of fruit and berries, including ''Salvadora persica'' (arak), dates, mulberries, jujube, and figs.<ref name = "HBW"/> Insects may be taken both on the ground and in flight.<ref name = "HBW"/> In captivity they have been known to take bread readily.<ref>{{Cite journal|author=Cumming, WD |year=1899 |title= Notes on the ''Hypocolius ampelinus'' (The Bulbul Shrike)| journal=J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. |volume= 12|issue=4 |pages= 760–765}}</ref>
===Calls=== The most common call is a series of squealing descending notes or ''kleeeu'' whistles. Other calls include scolding chirps.<ref name=pcr/>
==Conservation== Because the species has a large range, and because it does not meet the population size and decline criteria of the IUCN Red List, the conservation status is evaluated as being of "least concern".<ref name="iucn status 12 November 2021" /> Because of its monotypic family status it is much sought after by birdwatchers.<ref name = "HBW"/><ref>, R. & Aspinall, S. (2017). Hypocolius (''Hypocoliidae''). In: del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., Sargatal, J., Christie, D.A. & de Juana, E. (eds.). Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. (retrieved from http://www.hbw.com/node/52312 on 2 March 2017).</ref>
==Gallery== <gallery> File:Hypocolius.svg|The male has a conspicuous black face mask File:Hypocolius.ogg|Female, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia </gallery>
==References== {{Reflist|2}}
==External links== {{Commons category|Hypocolius ampelinus}} {{Wikispecies|Hypocolius ampelinus}} *[http://www.montereybay.com/creagrus/hypocolius.html Hypocolius birding info and photos] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080828155652/http://www.montereybay.com/creagrus/hypocolius.html |date=2008-08-28 }} * [http://ibc.lynxeds.com/species/hypocolius-hypocolius-ampelinus Hypocolius videos, photos & sounds on the Internet Bird Collection]
{{Passerida|M.|state=collapsed}} {{Taxonbar|from=Q727891}}
grey hypocolius Category:Birds of West Asia Category:Birds of the Middle East grey hypocolius grey hypocolius Category:Extant Miocene first appearances Category:Articles containing video clips