Gould's Shortwing (Heteroxenicus stellatus)
Illustration redrawn by AI from a real photograph

Gould's Shortwing

Heteroxenicus stellatus (Gould, 1868)

12–13 cmLength23 gWeight

It has a chestnut back and small white stars on its dark gray belly.

Most records: China, Nepal

Least Concern

How to identify

Field marks

  1. Chestnut upperparts
  2. Dark gray underparts with small white spots on the belly
  3. Long brown legs and feet; black bill

Male, female and young

Sexes similar in appearance.

Where and when it's recorded

Gould's Shortwing has been recorded at 16 of the 8,171 birding hotspots we track, in 2 countries and regions.

Records by month Northern Hemisphere

Where it's recorded most

  1. Baihualing [General Area]China25 records
  2. Baihuatan ParkChina3 records
  3. Sichuan University - Wangjiang CampusChina3 records
More places
  1. Mount Emei – Golden Summit & upper elevationsChina2 records
  2. Dulong River ValleyChina2 records
  3. Zixi Mountain PNRChina2 records
  4. Shivapuri-Nagarjun National ParkNepal1 record
  5. Ailaoshan Dujuanhu ReservoirChina1 record
  6. Longcanggou – Xijian Zhushe InnChina1 record
  7. Gelin VillageChina1 record

Countries and regions with the most records

ChinaNepal

eBird records via GBIF up to 2024-12-31. A record means someone listed it; more records partly mean more birders, not more birds.

About

Gould's shortwing (Heteroxenicus stellatus) is a small species of passerine bird in the family Muscicapidae. It is found in the Himalayas (mainly Uttarakhand, Sikkim and Bhutan), Yunnan and northern parts of Myanmar and Vietnam. It breeds in the eastern Himalayas in rocky areas above the tree-line and winters at lower altitude in wooded valleys.

Excerpt from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0 · authors · Read more on Wikipedia

Questions

How big is the Gould's Shortwing?

The Gould's Shortwing is about 12–13 cm long and weighs around 23 g.

Where does the Gould's Shortwing live?

Its breeding range: Oriental: Himalayas to northwestern Vietnam. It is most often recorded in China and Nepal.

Is the Gould's Shortwing endangered?

The IUCN Red List classifies the Gould's Shortwing as Least Concern.

What does the Gould's Shortwing eat?

Main food: Insects & other invertebrates.

What family is the Gould's Shortwing in?

It belongs to the family Chats, Old World Flycatchers (Muscicapidae), order Passerines (Passeriformes).

At a glance

Length
12–13 cm
Weight
23 g
Habitat
Forest
Diet
Insects & other invertebrates
Lifestyle
Active on the ground
Migration
Partial migrant
Conservation
Least Concern
More measurements
Wing
71 mm
Tail
47 mm
Bill
15 mm
Tarsus
29 mm

Averages from the AVONET dataset; length from field guides where available.

Range

Oriental: Himalayas to northwestern Vietnam

Breeding range, IOC World Bird List 15.2

Subspecies · 1
  • Heteroxenicus stellatus stellatus c Himalayas to s China and ne Myanmar

Classification

Order
Passerines Passeriformes
Family
Chats, Old World Flycatchers Muscicapidae
Genus
Heteroxenicus

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Gould's Shortwing

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Free to use with credit: “Illustration: Bird Album (birdalbum.com)”. Drawn by AI from a reference photo by Sourav Halder. ↗

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