Species Spotlight

Species Spotlight: Collared Bush Robin

March 26, 2026 by Kai Pflug No Comments

The scientific name of the Collared Bush Robin, Tarsiger johnstoniae, commemorates Marian Ada Johnstone née Yeo (1870-1954), an English aviculturalist. When she was about 24, she looked like this (public domain):

Cute, in a Helena Bonham Carter in “A Room with a View” kind of way, I think …

As you can tell from this irrelevant information, there is not much I can say about the Collared Bush Robin other than that it is a Taiwan endemic.

The species prefers higher altitudes (source), which could be a problem in the future as global warming accelerates – see here for a general post on this issue.

It is also a very cute bird. For some graphic representations of this cuteness, I recommend looking up a paper on the Visual Representations of Taiwanese Endemic Bird Species on Digital Media, which features the bird along with other Taiwan endemics. The representation of the robin makes it look almost like it is wearing a red tie.

In summary: cute bird, charming tie, lives high in the mountains. Any further details will have to be supplied by someone who actually studies it.

Written by Kai Pflug
Kai has lived in Shanghai for 22 years. He only started birding after moving to China, so he is far more familiar with Chinese birds than the ones back in his native Germany. As a birder, he considers himself strictly average and tries to make up for it with photography, which he shares on a separate website. Alas, most of the photos are pretty average as well. He hopes that few clients of his consulting firm—focused on China’s chemical industry—ever find this blog, as it might raise questions about his professional priorities. Much of his time is spent either editing posts for 10,000 Birds or cleaning the litter boxes of his numerous indoor cats. He occasionally considers writing a piece comparing the two activities.