Alternative names: Brown Thrush-Babbler; Brown-breasted Illadopsis; Brown Akalat; Moloney's Illadopis (moloneyana and iboensis)
- Illadopsis fulvescens
Identification
15 - 16.5cm. Very similar to Pale-breasted Illadopsis.
- Brownish-grey crown and cheek
- Olive-brown upperparts, neck side and upperwing
- Rufous tinge on back and rump
- Dark brown lores and ear-coverts
- Indistinct greyish supercilium
- Buffish-white chin and throat with diffuse dark grey streaks
- Buffish-brown breast to vent
Sexes similar.
Similar species
Differs from Pale-breasted Illadopsis in being warmer below, having a longer bill and a flatter crown.
Distribution
Mostly in West and Central Africa.
Found from Senegal east over coastal West Africa to the Congo Bassin and to Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania.
Generally common in its range.
Taxonomy
There are 6 subspecies:
- I. f. gularis from southwest Senegal to Guinea-Bissau and Sierra Leone to southwest Ghana
- I. f. moloneyana from southeast Ghana to southwest Nigeria
- I. f. iboensis in Nigeria and Cameroon
- I. f. fulvescens from south Cameroon to Republic of Congo, extreme west of Democratic Republic of Congo and west of Central African Republic
- I. f. ugandae from Central African Republic and east Republic of Congo through Democratic Republic of Congo to south Sudan, Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania. Also in northeast Angola
- I. f. dilutior in northwest Angola
Also formerly placed in genus Malacocincla or Trichastoma.
Habitat
Found in dense undergrowth in clearings, roadside thickets, treefall light-gaps and vine tangles in primary and old secondary forest, transition forest, shrub-forest mosaic and farmbush. Also on forest edge, sometimes gallery forest or coffee and tree plantations. Generally from the lowlands up to 1400m, locally higher (1525m in Sudan, 1800m in Uganda).
Behaviour
Feeds on invertebrates (beetles, bugs, termites, orthopterans, ants, moths, caterpillars, insect eggs, spiders, centipedes, millipedes and small molluscs.
Usually seen in pairs, family groups or small groups with 4 to 6 birds. Sometimes in bird-waves. If foraging together with Pale-breasted Illadopsis keeps to higher storey.
Breeding season differs through range. The nest is a large, untidy shallow cup made of dead or decaying leaves, leaf skeletons, dead pieces of fern and fine stems. It's placed on the ground or in a sapling, low bush, small tree-fern or in tangle of lianas some 0.5 to 2m above the ground. Lays 2 eggs.
Resident species.
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
- 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.
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Brown Illadopsis. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 5 October 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Brown_Illadopsis
