Brown-capped babbler

The brown-capped babbler (Pellorneum fuscocapillus) is a member of the family Pellorneidae.

Brown-capped babbler
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Pellorneidae
Genus: Pellorneum
Species:
P. fuscocapillus
Binomial name
Pellorneum fuscocapillus
(Blyth, 1849)

Distribution

The brown-capped babbler is an endemic resident breeding bird in Sri Lanka. Its habitat is forest undergrowth and thick scrub. This species, like most babblers, is not migratory, and has short rounded wings and a weak flight.

Ecology

This babbler builds its nest on the ground or in a hole, concealed in dense masses of foliage. The normal clutch is two or three eggs.

Description
A Brown-capped Babbler that was found near the Kitulgala Police Station, Sri Lanka.

The brown-capped babbler is a smallish to medium-sized babbler, at 16 cm (6.3 in) including its long tail. It is brown above and rich cinnamon below. It has a dark brown crown.

Brown-capped babblers have short dark bills. Their food is mainly insects. They can be difficult to observe in the dense vegetation they prefer, but like other babblers, these are noisy birds, and their characteristic calls are often the best indication that these birds are present.

In culture

In Sri Lanka, this bird is known as parandel-kurulla (translates to 'dried-grass(colored) bird') or redi diang (onomatopoeic in origin) in Sinhala language.[2] Brown-capped babbler appears in a 4 rupee Sri Lankan postal stamp,[3]

Subspecies

Three subspecies found.

  • P. f. babaulti (T. Wells, 1919) - low country dry zone
  • P. f. fuscocapillus (Blyth, 1849) - hill country
  • P. f. scotillum (Blyth, 1849) - low country wet zone

References
  1. BirdLife International (2012). "Pellorneum fuscocapillus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2012. Retrieved 26 November 2013.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  2. Anonymous (1998). "Vernacular Names of the Birds of the Indian Subcontinent" (PDF). Buceros. 3 (1): 53–109. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-04-01.
  3. http://www.birdtheme.org/country/srilanka.html
  • Birds of India by Grimmett, Inskipp and Inskipp, ISBN 0-691-04910-6
  • A Field Guide to the Birds of the Indian Subcontinent by Kazmierczak and van Perlo, ISBN 978-1-873403-79-2
  • Collar, N. J. & Robson, C. 2007. Family Timaliidae (Babblers) pp. 70 – 291 in; del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A. & Christie, D.A. eds. Handbook of the Birds of the World, Vol. 12. Picathartes to Tits and Chickadees. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona.
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