Alternative names: Horsfield's Jungle Babbler; Rusty-brown Babbler
- Malacocincla sepiaria
Includes Vanderbilt's Babbler (or Koengke Babbler)
Identification
15 - 16cm. A nondescript Babbler:
- Dark brown crown (greyer than upperparts)
- Olive-brown upperparts
- Short tail
- Pale grey lores and supercilium
- Streaky buff-brown ear-coverts and neck side
- Whitish chin, submoustachial area and throat
- Lower throat and upper breast with greyish-buff streaks
- Breast and upper flanks greyish-buff fading to whitish on belly and buffy ochre on lower flanks
Similar species
Differs from very similar Abbott's Babbler by shorter tail, darker upperparts (especially crown) and streaks on upper breast.
Distribution
Found from extreme south Thailand over peninsular Malaysia to Sumatra, Borneo, Java and Bali.
Common in parts of its range.
Taxonomy
Five subspecies recognized:
- M. s. tardinata in extreme south Thailand and peninsular Malaysia
- M. s. barussana in Sumatra
- M. s. harterti in north Borneo
- M. s. rufiventris in south Borneo
- M. s. sepiaria in Java and Bali
The described Vanderbilt's Babbler (M. vanderbilti) from Aceh, Sumatra, is now known to be a synonym of barussana.
Liberale and minor are usually not accepted.
Has been treated conspecific with Black-browed Babbler.
Habitat
Broadleaf evergreen forest, usually near water. From the lowlands up to 700m in Thailand and Malaysia, 300 - 1400m in Sumatra and up to 1700m in Borneo and Java.
Behaviour
Feeds on insects.
Usually seen singly, in pairs or small groups. Forages on the ground, in low vegetation and sometimes in middle storey.
Breeding season February to September and November in Borneo, April to May in peninsular Malaysia and February to May in Java. The nest is a broad untidy cup, made of dead leaves. It's placed in a sapling up to 1m above the ground. Lays 2 eggs.
Resident species.
References
- Clements, JF. 2008. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to December 2008. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019.
- 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
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Horsfield's Babbler. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 21 December 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Horsfield%27s_Babbler
