- Pellorneum buettikoferi
Identification
13 - 15cm. A nondescript small brown babbler:
- Squarish-tipped tail
- Forehead feathers seem slightly scaled with pale shaft-streaks
- Pale warm brown above, buff below
- Whitish belly
Sexes similar, juveniles with strongly rufescent upperparts.
Confusion species
Abbott's Babbler has grey on foreparts and is heavier billed. Spot-throated Babbler has fine spots on throat. Buff-breasted Babbler is darker and has a longer tail.
Distribution
Endemic to Sumatra.
Locally common in its range.
Taxonomy
This is a monotypic species.
It was formerly included in Buff-breasted Babbler.
Habitat
Evergreen forest. Sometimes also in mixed deciduous open or deep forest, secondary growth, bamboo thickets and undergrowth of secondary and logged forest. Up to 1550m.
Behaviour
Feeds on insects.
Usually seen in pairs, sometimes associated with other small babblers. Skulking, keeps close to the ground in dense undergrowth.
Breeding season from March to July, multi-brooded. The nest is a deep cup or dome or semi-dome made of dry bamboo, other leaves, fine grasses and thin rootlets. It's placed on the ground, sometimes also at the base of a sapling up to 1.5m (mostly not higher than 0.3m). Lays 3 - 4 eggs.
Resident species.
References
- Clements, JF. 2010. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to December 2010. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019. Spreadsheet available at http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/Clements%206.5.xls/view
- 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) Sumatran Babbler. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 19 March 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Sumatran_Babbler