Scaly-breasted Cupwing (Pnoepyga albiventer)
Illustration redrawn by AI from a real photograph

Scaly-breasted Cupwing

Pnoepyga albiventer (Hodgson, 1837)

≈12 cmLength21 gWeight

This tiny bird has almost no tail and faint scaling on the breast.

Busiest months: May and November–December · Most records: China, Nepal, India

Least Concern

How to identify

Field marks

  1. Body length about 9 cm, with almost no tail
  2. Back olive
  3. Faint scaling on the breast

Where and when it's recorded

Busiest months: May and November–December · Most records: China, Nepal, India

Scaly-breasted Cupwing has been recorded at 132 of the 8,276 birding hotspots we track, in 5 countries and regions.

Records by month Northern Hemisphere

Where it's recorded most

  1. SattalIndia181 records
  2. Mt. PhulchowkiNepal106 records
  3. Baihualing [General Area]China61 records
More places
  1. Mt. Phulchowki - Lowest Few Miles of RoadNepal51 records
  2. Hailuogou Glacier Forest ParkChina45 records
  3. Longcanggou [General Area]China42 records
  4. Wawu Mountain [General Area]China39 records
  5. Labahe NNRChina37 records
  6. Machchhegaun and AreaNepal34 records
  7. PelelaBhutan30 records

Countries and regions with the most records

ChinaNepalIndiaBhutanMyanmar (Burma)

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

The scaly-breasted cupwing or scaly-breasted wren-babbler (Pnoepyga albiventer) is a species of bird in the Pnoepyga wren-babblers family, Pnoepygidae. It is found in southern and eastern Asia from the Himalayas to Indochina.

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

Questions

How big is the Scaly-breasted Cupwing?

The Scaly-breasted Cupwing is about ≈12 cm long and weighs around 21 g.

Where does the Scaly-breasted Cupwing live?

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

When is the best time to see the Scaly-breasted Cupwing?

At the hotspots we track, it is recorded most in May, November and December (Northern Hemisphere).

Is the Scaly-breasted Cupwing endangered?

The IUCN Red List classifies the Scaly-breasted Cupwing as Least Concern.

What does the Scaly-breasted Cupwing eat?

Main food: Insects & other invertebrates.

What family is the Scaly-breasted Cupwing in?

It belongs to the family Cupwings (Pnoepygidae), order Passerines (Passeriformes).

At a glance

Length
≈12 cm
Weight
21 g
Habitat
Forest
Diet
Insects & other invertebrates
Lifestyle
Varied
Migration
Resident (barely migrates)
Conservation
Least Concern
More measurements
Wing
62 mm
Tail
26 mm
Bill
13 mm
Tarsus
23 mm

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

Range

Oriental: Himalayas to Myanmar and northwestern Vietnam

Breeding range, IOC World Bird List 15.2

Subspecies · 1
  • Pnoepyga albiventer mutica montane sc, c China (Sichuan, w Yunnan)

Classification

Order
Passerines Passeriformes
Family
Cupwings Pnoepygidae
Genus
Pnoepyga

Other birds in the genus Pnoepyga

Taiwan CupwingTaiwan CupwingPnoepyga formosanaNepal CupwingNepal CupwingPnoepyga immaculataPygmy CupwingPygmy CupwingPnoepyga pusilla
Scaly-breasted Cupwing

Download illustration

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

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