Natural History Wanderings

BBC  reported that scientists investigating families within the Passerida group of perching birds have identified 10 separate branches in their tree of life. One of their findings was that the spotted wren-babbler sat on its own branch and was not related to either wrens or wren-babblers. The new scientific name for the species is Elachura formosa.  It was formerly known as Spelaeornis formosus. It is a small perching bird that is found from the eastern Himalayas to southeast China. Read more at: BBC Nature – New bird family discovered in Asia.