Alternative name: Stripe-headed Tit-Babbler
- Macronus striaticeps
Macronous striaticeps
Identification
13cm. A smallish, variable babbler:
- Brown with white streaks above
- Whitish with diffuse grey streaks below
- Distinctive black-and-white stripes on crown
- Long pale shaft streaks on upperparts, some verly long, almost bare whitish shafts projecting from dorsum
Mindanensis, alcasidi and kettlewelli are much duller and have more buff underparts.
Sexes similar, juveniles undescribed.
Distribution
Endemic to the Philippines.
Generally common.
Taxonomy
This is a polytypic species[1] consisting of 4 subspecies.
Subspecies
- M. s. mindanensis:
- Southern Philippines - (Samar, Leyte, Bohol and Mindanao)
- M. s. alcasidi:
- Southern Philippines – (Dinagat and Siargao)
- M. s. striaticeps:
- Southern Philippines – (Basilan and Malamaui)
- M. s. kettlewelli:
- Sulu Archipelago - (Bongao, Jolo and Tawitawi islands)
Habitat
Dense underbrush in primary and secondary evergreen forest, tree-ferns, forest edge and secondary growth and scrub. Found at 100 - 1770m.
Behaviour
No information about diet, feeds probably on small invertebrates and some vegetable matter.
Often in mixed-species flocks, foraging in middle and lower storeys among dense and tangled vegetation. Noisy but shy.
Breeding season March to July. The nest is a large, woven ball of grass and leaves. It's placed in a clump of grass or somewhere else close to the ground. Lays 2 - 3 eggs.
Resident species.
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, S. M. Billerman, T. A. Fredericks, J. A. Gerbracht, D. Lepage, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2021. The eBird/Clements checklist of Birds of the World: v2021. Downloaded from https://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
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Brown Tit-Babbler. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 24 April 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Brown_Tit-Babbler
External Links
GSearch checked for 2020 platform.
