Black-eared Shrike-Babbler - BirdForum Opus

Female
Photo by cskhaw
Fraser's Hill, Malaysia, July 2005

Alternative names: Chestnut-throated Shrike-Babbler; Yellow-fronted Shrike-Babbler

Pteruthius melanotis

Identification

11.5 - 12cm. A small Shrike-Babbler:

• White eye-ring
• Yellow blow with diagnostic curved blackish rear border to yellow ear-coverts
• Olive above
• Greyish nape
• Male with chestnut wash on throat to upper breast and two broad white wing-bars on slaty-grey wings
• Female is duller above with rufous-buff wing-bars and much less pale chestnut chin and moustache

Juveniles are like females but with less distinct pattern

Similar species

Very similar to Clicking Shrike-Babbler which has no blackish rear border to the ear-coverts.

Distribution

Found from central Nepal east along the Himalayas to Bhutan, northeast India, adjacent Tibet, south China (Yunnan), Burma, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam and peninsular Malaysia.
Local and generally uncommon. No recent records in Bangladesh.

Taxonomy

Two subspecies accepted:

• P. m. melanotis in most of range
• P. m. tahanensis in extrem south Thailand and peninsular Malaysia

Like all species of this genus most probably not a babbler but belonging to the Vireos.

Habitat

Moist montanes, found in India from 1200 - 2800m, 1050 - 2200 in southeast Asia.

Behaviour

Feeds on large green grasshoppers and other insects.
Usually seen singly, in pairs or small groups, often together with other species. Forages mostly in the canopy with sluggish and methodical movements.
Breedings season from March to June in the Indian Subcontinent, February to June in Malaysia. The nest is a small cradle made of fine roots, twigs, ferns, pieces of tendril and some moss and lichen. It's suspended like a hammock in a tree, some 2 - 5m above the ground. Lays 2 - 6 eggs.
Resident species, probably with some altitudinal movements in winter.

References

1. 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.
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

Recommended Citation

• BirdForum Opus contributors. (2025) Black-eared Shrike-Babbler. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 1 May 2025 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Black-eared_Shrike-Babbler

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