From Opus

Photo by nothinghill
Doi-Inthanon National Park, Thailand, June 2007

Alternative names: Rufous-winged Tit-Babbler; Chestnut-headed Fulvetta; Chestnut-headed Tit-Babbler

Alcippe castaneceps

[edit] Identification

10 - 13cm. A very small olive-brown and whitish babbler:

• Chestnut crown with pale buff shaft streaks
• Long whitish supercilium above blackish eye-stripe and whisker-mark
• Rufous wings with blackish greater and primary coverts
• Olive-brown upperparts, breast-sides and flanks
• Tail dark brown

Sexes similar. Juveniles hav a less distinct shaft-streaking to crown and a more rufescent tinge overall.

[edit] Distribution

Found from Nepal east over Bhutan to northeast India, Burma, adjacent south China (Yunnan to Guangxi), Thailand, Laos, Vietnam and peninsular Malaysia.
Fairly common in most of its range.

[edit] Taxonomy

Five subspecies accepted:

• A. c. castaneceps from Nepal to Bhutan, northeast India, adjacent Tibet, Burma and northwest and west Thailand
• A. c. exul in north Thailand, Laos, north Vietnam and south China (Yunnan to Guangxi)
• A. c. stepanyani in southeast Laos and central Vietnam
• A. c. soror in peninsular Malaysia

Black-crowned Fulvetta has been included in this species in the past.
Placed in genus Pseudominla by some authors.

[edit] Habitat

Broadleaf evergreen forest, secondary forest, bamboo, forest edges and abandoned cultivations. In India found at 300 - 3600m, 900 - 2750m in China, breeds above 1000m in southeast Asia.

[edit] Behaviour

Feeds on insects, sometimes tree-sap.
Usually seen in large groups of 20 to 40 birds. These flocks move very quickly and may contain other species as well. Forages on moss-covered trunks like a nuthatch.
Breeding season January to June in southeast Asia, April to June in the Indian Subcontinent. The nest is a dome made of green moss, dry bamboo and other leaves. It's placed 1 - 3m above the ground amon moss or creepers on a tree trunk, in a bush, a sapling or a moss or fern-covered bank. Lays 3 - 4 eggs.
Resient species.

[edit] References

1. 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
2. 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
3. Rasmussen, PC and JC Anderton. 2005. Birds of South Asia: The Ripley Guide. Barcelona: Lynx Edicions. ISBN 978-8487334672

• List of references

[edit] External Links