Rufous-bellied Niltava

The rufous-bellied niltava (Niltava sundara) is a species of bird in the family Muscicapidae. It is found in Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Laos, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Thailand, and Vietnam. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest and subtropical or tropical moist montane forest. Rufous-bellied niltava measures 15–18 cm and weighs 19–24 g. It is a large, stocky and brightly coloured flycatcher with rounded head shape, fairly short tail and broad-based bill. (Wikipedia, general species account).

Taxonomy and systematics The rufous-breasted niltava is one of six species in the genus Niltava, found in South and Southeast Asia as well as in China. This bird has sometimes been considered to be conspecific with the Fujian niltava and rufous-vented niltava. It was described by the English naturalist Brian Hodgson in 1837. The specific epithet sundara is a Latinised version of the Hindi word sundar, meaning "beautiful".