Brown-capped babbler
| Brown-capped babbler | |
|---|---|
_(cropped).jpg) | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Family: | Pellorneidae |
| Genus: | Pellorneum |
| Species: | P. fuscocapillus |
| Binomial name | |
| Pellorneum fuscocapillus (Blyth, 1849) | |
The brown-capped babbler (Pellorneum fuscocapillus) is a member of the Pellorneidae family.
Distribution
The brown-capped babbler is an endemic resident breeding bird in Sri Lanka. Its habitat is forest undergrowth and thick scrub. This species, like most babblers, is not migratory, and has short rounded wings and a weak flight.
Ecology
This babbler builds its nest on the ground or in a hole, concealed in dense masses of foliage. The normal clutch is two or three eggs.
Description
The brown-capped babbler measures 16 cm including its long tail. It is brown above and rich cinnamon below. It has a dark brown crown.
Brown-capped babblers have short dark bills. Their food is mainly insects. They can be difficult to observe in the dense vegetation they prefer, but like other babblers, these are noisy birds, and their characteristic calls are often the best indication that these birds are present.
In culture
In Sri Lanka, this bird is known as parandel-kurulla (translates to 'dried-grass(colored) bird') or redi diang (onomatopoeic in origin) in Sinhala language.[2] Brown-capped babbler appears in a 4 rupee Sri Lankan postal stamp,[3]
Subspecies
Three subspecies found.
- P. f. babaulti (T. Wells, 1919) - low country dry zone
- P. f. fuscocapillus (Blyth, 1849) - hill country
- P. f. scotillum (Blyth, 1849) - low country wet zone
References
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Pellorneum fuscocapillus. |
- ↑ BirdLife International (2012). "Pellorneum fuscocapillus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2013.2. International Union for Conservation of Nature. Retrieved 26 November 2013.
- ↑ Anonymous (1998). "Vernacular Names of the Birds of the Indian Subcontinent" (PDF). Buceros. 3 (1): 53–109. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-04-01.
- ↑ http://www.birdtheme.org/country/srilanka.html
- Birds of India by Grimmett, Inskipp and Inskipp, ISBN 0-691-04910-6
- A Field Guide to the Birds of the Indian Subcontinent by Kazmierczak and van Perlo, ISBN 978-1-873403-79-2
- Collar, N. J. & Robson, C. 2007. Family Timaliidae (Babblers) pp. 70 – 291 in; del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A. & Christie, D.A. eds. Handbook of the Birds of the World, Vol. 12. Picathartes to Tits and Chickadees. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona.