Brown-cheeked fulvetta

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Brown-cheeked fulvetta
Alcippe poioicephala davisoni - Kaeng Krachan.jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Alcippeidae
Genus: Alcippe
Species:
A. poioicephala
Binomial name
Alcippe poioicephala
(Jerdon, 1841)

The brown-cheeked fulvetta (Alcippe poioicephala) or brown-cheeked alcippe as the fulvettas proper are not closely related to this species, [2] ) is included in the family Alcippeidae. It was earlier also known as the quaker babbler. [3]

Contents

This species is one of those retained in the genus Alcippe after the true fulvettas and some others were removed; the group had turned out to contain quite unrelated birds. Its closest relatives are probably the brown fulvetta and the black-browed fulvetta, which was only recently recognized as a distinct species again. The Javan fulvetta and the Nepal fulvetta might also belong to this group. [4]

The brown-cheeked fulvetta is a resident breeding bird in Bangladesh, India and Southeast Asia. Its habitat is undergrowth in moist forests and scrub jungle. This species, like most babblers, is not migratory, and has short rounded wings and a weak flight.

This babbler builds its nest in trees, concealed in dense masses of foliage. The normal clutch is two or three eggs.

The brown-cheeked fulvetta measures 15 cm including its longish tail. It is brown above and buff, with no patterning on the body or wings. The crown is grey, and the cheeks are dark.

Brown-cheeked fulvettas have short, dark bills. Their food is mainly insects and nectar. They can be difficult to observe in the dense vegetation they prefer, but these are vocal birds, and their characteristic calls are often the best indication that they are present.

Nesting

The brown-cheeked fulvetta nests from January to June with a peak in January–February. In a study by Anoop Das and Vijayan, a total of 38 nests were found in 50,000 square metres. The nest is a cup, built with green moss, rootlets, lichen, leaves, and grass lined with rootlets and placed in a fork or suspended from the twigs at a mean height of 68.21 cm from ground. Mean nest width was 91.8 mm and depth 48.7 mm. [5]

Clutch size was two to three eggs and the incubation period is 10 ± 2 days and the nestling period is 12 ± 2 days. Hatching success was 55% while the nestling success was 32%. The most preferred plants for nesting were shrubs of the species Lasianthus ciliatus (36%) followed by the Saprosma fragrans (27%) and Thottea siliquosa (23%).

They tended to locate their nests at central position just near the main stem. A principal component analysis of the nest site variables showed nest height, concealment, plant height and canopy cover as the major parameters in nest site selection, explaining 73% cumulative variance. Of these the crucial deciding factors were plant height and canopy cover when the nest sites were compared with the random sites (discriminant function analysis).

Nest success was directly correlated with concealment as it reduces the chance for predation. Nest site selection of this bird thus shows the choice of a particular location for successful nesting, which is a dense evergreen forest with dense shrub cover and without much disturbance.

Related Research Articles

Old World warblers are a large group of birds formerly grouped together in the bird family Sylviidae. They are not closely related to the New World warblers. The family held over 400 species in over 70 genera, and were the source of much taxonomic confusion. Two families were split out initially, the cisticolas into Cisticolidae and the kinglets into Regulidae. In the past ten years they have been the subject of much research and many species are now placed into other families, including the Acrocephalidae, Cettiidae, Phylloscopidae, and Megaluridae. In addition some species have been moved into existing families or have not yet had their placement fully resolved. A smaller number of warblers, together with some babblers formerly placed in the family Timaliidae and the parrotbills, are retained in a much smaller family Sylviidae.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Parrotbill</span> Group of birds

The parrotbills are a family, Paradoxornithidae, of passerine birds that are primarily native to East and Southeast Asia, though feral populations exist elsewhere. They are generally small, long-tailed birds that inhabit reedbeds and similar habitats. They feed mainly on seeds, e.g. of grasses, to which their bill, as the name implies, is well-adapted. Living in tropical to southern temperate climates, they are usually non-migratory.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dartford warbler</span> Species of bird

The Dartford warbler is a typical warbler from the warmer parts of western Europe and northwestern Africa. It is a small warbler with a long thin tail and a thin pointed bill. The adult male has grey-brown upperparts and is dull reddish-brown below except for the centre of the belly which has a dirty white patch. It has light speckles on the throat and a red eye-ring. The sexes are similar but the adult female is usually less grey above and paler below.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Orange-billed babbler</span> Species of bird

The orange-billed babbler, also known as Ceylon rufous babbler or Sri Lankan rufous babbler, is a member of the family Leiothrichidae.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ashy-headed laughingthrush</span> Species of bird

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brown-capped babbler</span> Species of bird

The brown-capped babbler is a member of the family Pellorneidae.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wrentit</span> Species of bird

The wrentit is a small bird that lives in chaparral, oak woodlands, and bushland on the western coast of North America. It is the only species in the genus Chamaea.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ashy-throated parrotbill</span> Species of bird

The ashy-throated parrotbill is a parrotbill. In old sources, it may be called Alphonse's crow-tit; though superficially resembling a tit it is not a member of the Paridae. The native range of this species extends from south-west China to northern Vietnam, and it might have become naturalised in one area in Italy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brown fulvetta</span> Species of bird

The brown fulvetta is a species of bird in the family Alcippeidae. It is found in Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest. It is threatened by habitat loss.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brown-throated fulvetta</span> Species of bird

The brown-throated fulvetta or Ludlow's fulvetta is a species of bird in the family Paradoxornithidae. Like the other typical fulvettas, it was long included in the Timaliidae genus Alcippe or in the Sylviidae. It is found in Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, and Nepal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grey-cheeked fulvetta</span> Species of bird

The grey-cheeked fulvetta or Morrison's fulvetta is a bird in the family Alcippeidae. The species was first described by Robert Swinhoe in 1863. The grey-cheeked fulvetta is part of a species complex and the nominate morrisonia is now restricted to endemic Taiwan birds, with the David's fulvetta, Huet's fulvetta and Yunnan fulvetta now recognised as a separate species.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nepal fulvetta</span> Species of bird

The Nepal fulvetta or Nepal alcippe, as the fulvettas proper are not closely related to this species, is a bird species in the family Alcippeidae.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mountain fulvetta</span> Species of bird

The mountain fulvetta is a 14 to 15.5 cm long species of bird in the Alcippeidae family. It is found in Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam in subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">White-browed fulvetta</span> Species of bird

The white-browed fulvetta is a bird species in the family Paradoxornithidae. Like the other typical fulvettas, it was long included in the Timaliidae genus Alcippe or in the Sylviidae.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Silver-eared mesia</span> Species of bird

The silver-eared mesia is a species of bird from South East Asia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abbott's babbler</span> Species of bird

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.

The black-browed fulvetta is a 15.5 to 16.5 cm long species of passerine bird in the family Alcippeidae. It is found in subtropical or tropical moist montane evergreen forests, adjacent secondary growth and bamboo in Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam.

<i>Fulvetta</i> Genus of birds

Fulvetta is a genus of passerine birds. Originally proposed in 1877, it was recently reestablished for the typical fulvettas, which were long included with their presumed relatives in the Timaliidae genus Alcippe. But they are actually quite closely related to the parrotbills, and are thus now placed in the family Paradoxornithidae.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Manipur fulvetta</span> Species of bird

The Manipur fulvetta or streak-throated fulvetta is a bird species in the family Paradoxornithidae. It is named for the state of Manipur in Northeast India. Like the other typical fulvettas, it was long included in the Timaliidae genus Alcippe or in the Sylviidae. In addition, it was long included in F. cinereiceps as a subspecies, and the common name "streak-throated fulvetta" was applied to all these birds. The typical F. cinereiceps are now called grey-hooded fulvetta.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pellorneidae</span> Family of birds

The jungle babblers are a family, Pellorneidae, of 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.

References

  1. BirdLife International (2017). "Alcippe poioicephala". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2017: e.T22716633A111108243. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-1.RLTS.T22716633A111108243.en . Retrieved 13 November 2021.
  2. "Brown-cheeked Fulvetta aka Brown-cheeked Alcippe".
  3. Kapadia, Sanjeev (2018-02-09). "Brown-cheeked Fulvetta (Alcippe poioicephala)". Birds of Gujarat. Retrieved 2021-01-06.
  4. Pasquet et al. 2006
  5. "Brown-cheeked Fulvetta". Birds of the World. Cornell Lab of Ornithology. doi:10.2173/bow.brcful1.01. S2CID   241610200 . Retrieved 31 July 2021.

Bibliography