Brown-capped babbler | |
---|---|
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 family Pellorneidae.
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.
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.
The brown-capped babbler is a smallish to medium-sized babbler, at 16 cm (6.3 in) 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 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]
Three subspecies found.
The sirkeer malkoha or sirkeer cuckoo, is a non-parasitic cuckoo found in dry scrub forest and open woodland habitats in the Indian subcontinent. The species is long-tailed, largely olive brown on the upper side with a distinctive curved red beak tipped in yellow. They forage singly or in pairs mainly on or close to the ground creeping between grasses and bushes, often on rocky habitats where they feed on small lizards, insects, and sometimes berries and seeds. They are very silent and the sexes are identical in plumage.
The Sri Lanka bush warbler, also known as Ceylon bush warbler or Palliser's warbler, is an Old World warbler which is an endemic resident breeder in Sri Lanka, where it is the only bush warbler.
The grey-bellied cuckoo or the Indian plaintive cuckoo is a cuckoo with widespread occurrence throughout Asia.
The common emerald dove, also called Asian emerald dove and grey-capped emerald dove, is a widespread resident breeding pigeon native to the tropical and subtropical parts of the Indian Subcontinent and Southeast Asia. The dove is also known by the names of green dove and green-winged pigeon. The common emerald dove is the state bird of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. The Pacific emerald dove and Stephan's emerald dove were both considered conspecific.
The orange-billed babbler also known as Ceylon rufous babbler or Sri Lankan rufous babbler is a member of the family Leiothrichidae.
The ashy-headed laughingthrush is a member of the family Leiothrichidae. The laughingthrushes are a large family of Old World passerine birds characterised by soft fluffy plumage. These are birds of tropical areas, with the greatest variety in southeast Asia.
The tawny-bellied babbler also known in older Indian works as the rufous-bellied babbler is a small babbler that forages in groups in low scrub forests. Like other members of the large Old World babbler family they are passerine birds characterised by soft fluffy plumage. Foraging in small groups that skulk inside bushes there are three subspecies within the Indian Subcontinent. The nominate hyperythra found in northern and eastern India is uniformly brown underneath while albogularis of the western Indian peninsula is white throated. The population in Sri Lanka, phillipsi, is also white throated but is paler underneath and has a larger bill.
The Indian scimitar babbler is an Old World babbler. It is found in peninsular India in a range of forest habitats. They are most often detected by their distinctive calls which include an antiphonal duet by a pair of birds. They are often hard to see as they forage through dense vegetation. The long curve yellow, scimitar-shaped bills give them their name. It has been treated in the past as subspecies of the white-browed scimitar babbler which is found along the Himalayas but now separated into two species, the peninsular Indian species and the Sri Lanka scimitar babbler.
The dark-fronted babbler is an Old World babbler found in the Western Ghats of India and the forests of Sri Lanka. They are small chestnut brown birds with a dark black cap, a whitish underside and pale yellow iris. They forage in flocks in the undergrowth of forests constantly making calls and uttering alarm calls when disturbed.
The brown-cheeked fulvetta, is included in the family Alcippeidae. It was earlier also known as the quaker babbler.
The Kashmir flycatcher is a small passerine bird in the flycatcher family Muscicapidae. At one time it was considered to be a subspecies of the red-breasted flycatcher, Ficedula parva.
The white-rumped munia or white-rumped mannikin, sometimes called striated finch in aviculture, is a small passerine bird from the family of waxbill "finches" (Estrildidae). These are not close relatives of the true finches (Fringillidae) or true sparrows (Passeridae).
The Sri Lanka spurfowl is a member of the pheasant family which is endemic to the dense rainforests of Sri Lanka. In Sri Lanka, this bird is known as haban kukula - හබන් කුකුලා in Sinhala.
Abbott's babbler is a species of bird in the family Pellorneidae. It is widely distributed along the Himalayas in South Asia and extending into the forests of Southeast Asia. They are short-tailed and stout birds which forage in pairs in dense undergrowth close to the ground and their presence is indicated by their distinctive calls.
Pellorneum is a genus of passerine birds in the family Pellorneidae. Some of its species were formerly placed in the genus Trichastoma.
The Naga wren-babbler or long-tailed wren-babbler is a bird species in the family Timaliidae. In India it is found in Nagaland and Manipur.
The swamp grass babbler or swamp prinia is a small bird of the Indian subcontinent. Some authorities consider it a subspecies of the rufous-vented grass babbler.
The Indian blackbird is a member of the thrush family Turdidae. It was formerly considered a subspecies of the common blackbird. It is found only in India and Sri Lanka. The subspecies from most of the Indian subcontinent, simillimus, nigropileus, bourdilloni and spencei, are small, only 19–20 centimetres long, and have broad eye-rings. They also differ in proportions, wing formula, egg colour and voice from the common blackbird.
The jungle babblers, Pellorneidae, are mostly Old World passerine birds belonging to the superfamily Sylvioidea. They are quite diverse in size and coloration, and usually characterised by soft, fluffy plumage and a tail on average the length of their body, or longer. These birds are found in tropical zones, with the greatest biodiversity in Southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Pellorneum fuscocapillus . |