Leafbirds (Chloropseidae)

Orange-bellied Leafbird (Chloropsis hardwickii) - HBW 10, p. 266

French: Verdin de Hardwicke German: Orangebauch-Blattvogel Spanish: Verdín de Hardwicke
Other common names: Hardwicke’s Leafbird, Orange-bellied Chloropsis

Taxonomy: Chloropsis Hardwickii Jardine and Selby, 1830, Nepal.
Nominate race and malayana intergrade in S Myanmar (N Tenasserim) and possibly more widely; these two are well differentiated from E races, but the two groups intergrade in N Laos, possibly also in SW China. Population in SC Vietnam (including Da Lat Plateau), currently included in melliana, may represent a separate, as yet undescribed race; further study required. Four subspecies recognized.

Subspecies and Distribution:

hardwickii Jardine & Selby, 1830 - N India (Himachal Pradesh) E in Himalayan foothills and hill tracts to S China (SE Tibet, Yunnan), Myanmar, NW Thailand and N Laos.
malayana Robinson & Kloss, 1923 - uplands of S Myanmar (N & C Tenasserim) and Peninsular Malaysia.
melliana Stresemann, 1923 - uplands of S China (from Guizhou and Guangxi E to Fujian) and of N & C Vietnam (S to S Annam).
lazulina (Swinhoe, 1870) - uplands of Hainan I.