Alternative names: Striated Babbler; Deccan Babbler (somvervillei)
- Turdoides striata
Identification
Photo by Alok Tewari
Bhimashankar WLS, Western Ghats, Dist. Pune, Maharashtra, India, January-2016
25cm (9¾ in). The most widespread Turdoides-babbler of the Indian Subcontinent.
- Drab grey plumage
- Yellow bill
- Pale lores
- Pale yellowish eyes
Other plumage markings are variable and diffuse.
Juveniles are browner-tinged overall.
Similar species
Yellow-billed Babbler has pale bluish eyes and pale panel on wing. All other Turdoides-babblers of the region don't have a yellow bill and most of them are much more streaked.
Distribution
India, Nepal, Bhutan and Pakistan.
Common in most of its range.
Taxonomy
May form a superspecies with Orange-billed Babbler and has been considered conspecific with it.
The scientific name was formerly spelled Turdoides striatus.
Subspecies
Five subspecies usually accepted[3]:
- T. s. sindiana in Pakistan and northwest India
- T. s. striata along the Himalayan foothills
- T. s. orientalis in central and south India
- T. s. somervillei in coastal western India
- T. s. malabarica in southwest India from Goa to Kerala
Habitat
Found in a wide variety of habitats from open and secondary forest to scrubland, plantations, orchards, hedges in cultivation or bushes in waste ground..
Locally up to 1830m.
Behaviour
Photo by Alok Tewari
Bharatpur Keoladeo National Park, India, April-2015
Diet
Feeds mainly on insects but takes also frogs, grain, seeds, berries and nectar.
Gregarious and often in big groups of 6 to 12 birds or in mixed-species flocks, sometimes mixing with Yellow-billed Babbler. Usually foraging on the ground.
Breeding
Breeding season all year, peak time from February to October. The nest is a loose, deep or shallow cup, made of grasses. It's placed in a bush, hedge or in a small tree. 3-7 deep greenish blue eggs are laid.
Resident species.
Vocalisation
<flashmp3>jungle_babbler_alok.mp3</flashmp3>
Listen in an external program
Recording by Alok Tewari
Dwarahat, Dist. Almora, Alt. 5500 ft. above MSL, Uttarakhand, India, Oct.-2016
Call given by two individuals from a tree-perch.
References
- Del Hoyo, J, A Elliott, and D Christie, eds. 2007. Handbook of the Birds of the World. Volume 12: Picathartes to Tits and Chickadees. Barcelona: Lynx Edicions. ISBN 978-8496553422
- Rasmussen, PC and JC Anderton. 2005. Birds of South Asia: The Ripley Guide. Barcelona: Lynx Edicions. ISBN 978-8487334672
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2015. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2015, with updates to August 2015. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Jungle Babbler. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 18 May 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Jungle_Babbler
External Links
