- Pellorneum bicolor
Trichastoma bicolor
Identification
16.5 - 18cm. A smallish, nondescript babbler:
- Pale dull rufous crown with greyish-buff lores and vague supercilium
- Ear-coverts buffy-brown
- Upperparts dull rufous-brown, tail brighter rufous
- Buffy whitish or creamy whitish underparts, breast with slightly darker shading
- Rather long, hook-tipped bill
Sexes similar, juveniles brighter and warmer above.
Distribution
Found from extreme south Burma and south Thailand to peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra and Borneo.
Fairly common in its range.
Taxonomy
This is a monotypic species[1].
Habitat
Lowland evergreen mixed dipterocarp forest. Also selectively logged forest, older plantations and locally in mangroves. Up to 200m in mainland southeast Asia, up to 600m in Sumatra and above 920m in Borneo.
Behaviour
Usually seen in pairs or small groups with 4 - 5 birds. Forages in lower to middle storey of forest, mainly in gleaning foliage.
Diet
Feeds on ants and other insects.
Breeding
Breeding season from February to September in Borneo and April to July in mainland southeast Asia. The nest is a small untidy cup made of dead bamboo and other leaves. It's placed 0.2 - 0.75m above the ground in rattan or other plants or in a depression in a bank. Lays 2 eggs.
Movement
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. (2025) Ferruginous Babbler. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 10 May 2025 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Ferruginous_Babbler
External Links
GSearch checked for 2020 platform.