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The
Chinese hwamei or melodious laughingthrush (Garrulax canorus) is a
passerine bird of eastern Asia in the Leiothrichidae family. The name
"hwamei" comes from the Chinese 画眉 (huà-méi) and means "painted eyebrow"
referring to the distinctive marking around the bird's eyes. The
species is a popular cagebird because of its attractive song.
It
has two subspecies: G. c. canorus, native to mainland Asia, and G. c.
owstoni of Hainan Island. The Taiwan hwamei (Leucodioptron taewanum) was
formerly considered to be a subspecies of the Chinese hwamei but has
recently been split as a separate species. Based on a study of the
mitochondrial cytochrome b gene, Li et al. (2006) suggested that the two
species diverged about 1.5 million years ago with the two Chinese
hwamei subspecies diverging about 600,000 years ago.
The
two were formerly placed in the genus Garrulax with the other
laughingthrushes but have recently been moved to a new genus
Leucodioptron.
The
Chinese hwamei was introduced to Taiwan in large numbers in the 1980s
and hybridization with the native Taiwan hwamei is occurring which may
threaten the genetic uniqueness of the latter form.
