Grand Rhabdornis - BirdForum Opus

Alternative name: Long-billed Rhabdornis; Long-billed Creeper

Identification

16.3 - 18cm.

Dark grey crown
Grey hindneck leading to brown back (with faint shaft streaks)
Reddish-brown rump
Conspicious white shaft streaks and/or spots on lesser upperwing-coverts
Dark brown tail
Blackish-brown mask bordered above by white supercilium and below by indistinctive white malar stripe
Light grey throat
Dirty white underparts with reddish-brown streaks that fade into side of breast

Sexes similar, females are slightly smaller. Immatures undescribed.

Found in the Cordillera Mountains and Sierra Madre on Luzon, Philippines.
An uncommon and local restricted-range species.

This is a monotypic species.
It's sometimes considered conspecific with Stripe-breasted Rhabdornis.

Primary and secondary dipterocarp and hardwood forest of middle and higher elevations.

Usually seen singly or in small groups, also in mixed-species flocks (eg with Philippine Hanging-Parrot, Buzzing Flowerpecker and Stripe-headed Rhabdornis).

Feeds on insects, seeds and fruits.

There is little information about breeding. The nest is placed in a tree hole.

Probably a resident species.

Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, B.L. Sullivan, C. L. Wood, and D. Roberson. 2013. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: Version 6.8., with updates to August 2013. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
Del Hoyo, J, A Elliott, and D Christie, eds. 2008. Handbook of the Birds of the World. Volume 13: Penduline-tits to Shrikes. Barcelona: Lynx Edicions. ISBN 978-8496553453

BirdForum Opus contributors. (2025) Grand Rhabdornis. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 13 May 2025 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Grand_Rhabdornis