Alternative name: Common Brown Babbler
- Malacocincla abbotti
Identification
15 - 17cm (6-6¾ in). A medium-sized, non-descript Babbler:
- Short tail
- Heavy, hooked bill
- Drab olive-brown upperparts
- Bright rusty lower flanks and vent
- Throat and breast greyish-white
- Variable pale grey supercilium and lores
Similar species
Buff-breasted Babbler is longer-tailed and much more ochraceous below. Spot-throated Babbler is much smaller.
Distribution
Local resident in Himalayas (Nepal, Bhutan) and North East India (also Eastern Ghats) east to Bangladesh, Burma, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Borneo and Sumatra.
Common in much of its range.
Taxonomy
Subspecies
There are 8 subspecies[2]:
- M. a. abbotti (usually includes rufescentior and amabile):
- Nepal, Bhutan, northeast India, east Bangladesh, southern Myanmar to Thailand, north-western Malay Peninsula and Mergui Archipelago
- M. a. krishnarajui:
- Eastern India (Eastern Ghats in northern Andhra Pradesh)
- M. a. williamsoni :
- M. a.olivacea:
- Coastal south-eastern Thailand (Chon Buri Province to Trat); Ko Kut Island
- M. a. altera:
- M. a.obscurior:
- Peninsula Thailand and Malay Peninsula to eastern Sumatra
- M. a. concreta:
- Borneo, Matasiri and Belitung islands
- M. a. baweana:
- Bawean Island (Java Sea)
The mainland subspecies are poorly differentiated and maybe only concreta and baweana should be recognized.
Sometimes placed in genus Trichastoma or Turdinus.
Habitat
Evergreen forest and dense secondary vegetation. Up to 1100m.
Behaviour
Diet
Feeds on insects and small invertebrates.
Usually seen singly or in pairs, near the ground. Forages with slow movements among leaf litter. Often quite tame.
Breeding
Breeding season differs through range. The nest is a bulky, open cup made of dead leaves, bracken fronds, wet stems, moss, grasses, fern roots and rootlets. It's placed in a bush, weeds, clump of creepers or fern 0.5 - 1.8m above the ground. Lays 2 - 5 eggs.
Movements
Resident species.
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2017. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2017, with updates to August 2017. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- 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. (2025) Abbott's Babbler. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 3 May 2025 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Abbott%27s_Babbler
External Links
GSearch checked for 2020 platform.
