Alternative names: Hume's Babbler; Sind Babbler (scindicum)
- Chrysomma altirostre
Identification
17cm. A small babbler.
- Plumage rich brown above, grey and buff below
- Dark eye with inconspicuous greenish-yellow eye-ring
- Grey lores and short supercilium with blackish shaft-streaks
- Long, graduated tail
- Stubby bill
Similar species
Similar in shape and general coloration to Yellow-eyed Babbler, but note the dark eye and less cleaner appearance.
Distribution
South Asia: Very patchily distributed in the Indus Plains of Pakistan, the Terai grassland of southern Nepal and northeast India and in the Irrawaday-Sittang river plain in Burma.
Has suffered from a massive habitat loss and is classified as vulnerable.
Taxonomy
Three subspecies recognized:
Previously placed in genus Moupinia.
Habitat
Extensive tall riverine grassland in lowlands.
Behaviour
Feeds on grasshoppers, beetles, ants and small seeds.
Forages by perching almost perdendicular to vertical stems, grasping base of leaf and rippping downwards to expose invertebrates.
Highly skulking. Usually in pairs or small groups of 3 - 6 birds.
Breeds in September in Pakistan, April and July in India. The nest is a neat frail cup made of dried reed leaves woven around several vertical stems in clump of vegetation. Lays 2 - 3 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) Jerdon's Babbler. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 26 April 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Jerdon%27s_Babbler
