Ashy-throated Parrotbill (Paradoxornis alphonsianus) - HBW 12, p. 315

Taxonomy: Suthora Alphonsiana J. Verreaux, 1870, “les montagnes du Thibet chinois”; type from Chengdu, Sichuan, China.
Sometimes placed together with P. conspicillatus, P. webbianus, P. brunneus, P. zappeyi, P.przewalskii, P. fulvifrons, P. nipalensis, P. verreauxi and P. atrosuperciliaris in a separate genus, Suthora. Considered conspecific with P. webbianus and P. brunneus by some authors. Where range overlaps with that of former, the two species sometimes form mixed flocks in which occasional hybrids reported, e.g. in Vietnam (near Sa Pa, in W Tonkin), and hybrids seen also in NW Italy (where both species introduced); in China, interbreeding reported in 1938 in C Sichuan, and a number of earlier specimens from that region were considered to exhibit a range of features intermediate between the two species, but insufficient details available; has been suggested that race ganluoensis is one such intermediate form, but this highly unlikely, as its range is not in the overlap zone but closer to that of P. brunneus. Race stresemanni has sometimes been merged with nominate, but is much closer to, and possibly synonymous with, yunnanensis. Introduced birds of present species in Europe may represent an undescribed race; further study required. Four subspecies ­recognized.