By 1999, the number of birds in the swamp had grown to at least a hundred individuals; in December 1998, the parrotbills were also observed in two localities on the Lago di Varese. By the early 21st century, the birds are well-established as resident breeders. They are the only self-sustaining parrotbill population found in Europe, as it was discovered that the bearded reedling (Panurus biarmicus) – long believed to be an aberrant parrotbill – is actually a distinct lineage with no known relatives among the Passerida. Ecology Contrary to their western Eurasian relatives (the typical warblers), these East Asian birds are small omnivores adapted to living in reed beds. In its native range, the ashy-throated parrotbill inhabits bamboo stands and areas with tall grasses. The parrotbills in Brabbia Swamp Nature Reserve inhabit common reed (Phragmites australis) beds and drier land overgrown with meadowsweet (Filipendula ulmaria), grey willow (Salix cinerea) and giant goldenrod (Solidago gigantea). It feeds on arthropods, seeds and buds; in winter, the Italian birds seem to sustain themselves on insects that hibernate in reed stalks. As in its relatives in (sub)genus Sinoparadoxornis, its eggs are small by parrotbill standards, whitish- to light-blue and unspotted. This bird will disappear if wetlands are drained, but its range is considerable and much of its habitat is remote and little accessed. It is thus considered a Species of Least Concern by the IUCN. Footnotes References Alström, Per; Ericson, Per G.P; Olsson, Urban & Sundberg, Per (2006): Phylogeny and classification of the avian superfamily Sylvioidea. Mol. Phylogenet. Evol. 38(2): 381–397. PDF fulltext Bangs, Outram (1932): Birds of western China obtained by the Kelley-Roosevelts expedition. Field Mus. Nat. Hist. Zool. Ser. 18(11): 343–379. Fulltext at the Internet Archive Boto, Alberto; Rubolini, Diego; Viganò, Andrea & Guenzani, Walter (1999): Paradoxornis alphonsianus: una nuova specie naturalizzata per l'Italia ["P. alphonsianus: a new naturalized species in Italy"]. Quaderni di Birdwatching 1(1). [Article in Italian] HTML fulltext Boto, Alberto, Andrea Galimberti and Richard Bonser (2009) The parrotbills in Lombardia, Italy Birding World 22(11):471-474 Cibois, Alice (2003): Mitochondrial DNA Phylogeny of Babblers (Timaliidae). Auk 120(1): 1–20. DOI: 10.1642/0004-8038(2003)120[0035:MDPOBT]2.0.CO;2 HTML fulltext without images Jønsson, Knud A. & Fjeldså, Jon (2006): A phylogenetic supertree of oscine passerine birds (Aves: Passeri). Zool. Scripta 35(2): 149–186. (HTML abstract) Pasquet, Eric; Bourdon, Estelle; Kalyakin, Mikhail V. & Cibois, Alice (2006): The fulvettas (Alcippe), Timaliidae, Aves): a polyphyletic group. Zool. Scripta 35(6):, 559–566. (HTML abstract)