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Crescent-chested Babbler - BirdForum Opus

Alternative names: Pearl-cheeked Babbler; Pearl-chested Babbler; Pearl-cheeked Tree-babbler; Crescent-chested Tree-babbler

Cyanoderma melanothorax

Stachyris melanothorax

Identification

13 cm. A small Stachyris-babbler:

  • Crown, nape and tail ochrous-brown
  • Rufous wings
  • Pale grey supercilium, lores, cheek and ear-coverts
  • Blackish mark under ear-coverts
  • Chin and throat white
  • Blackish crescent on upper breast
  • Belly buffish-ochre
  • Dark brown bill

Distribution

Found on Java and Bali, Indonesia.
Restricted-range species, locally common.

Taxonomy

5 subspecies recognized:

  • C. m. melanothorax in west and central Java
  • C. m. mendeni in Indramayu, west Java
  • C. m. albigula on Mount Papandayan, west Java
  • C. m. intermedium in east Java
  • C. m. baliense on Bali

Has been placed in genus Macronous or in Stachyris.

Habitat

Dense thickets and scrub at forest edge, also wooded areas around villages. Found from sea-level up to 1500m.

Behaviour

Feeds on spiders and insects.
Forages in groups, sometimes together with White-breasted Babbler and White-bibbed Babbler. Also in bird-waves.
Breeding recorded in all months except July. The nest is a hollow dome with a side entrance near the top. It's made of rattan, palm leaves, leaf ribs and other material and placed close to the ground. Lays 2 - 3 eggs. Brood parasitism by Square-tailed Drongo-Cuckoo reported.
Resident species.

References

  1. 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
  2. Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2015. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2015, with updates to August 2015. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/

Recommended Citation

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