Puff-throated Babbler
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| Puff-throated Babbler | ||||||||||||||
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| Pellorneum ruficeps Swainson, 1832 |
The Puff-throated Babbler, Pellorneum ruficeps, is a passerine bird. It is also called as Spotted Babbler. Pellorneum ruficeps is the type species of its genus. There are some hints that Pellorneum may consist of several lineages (Jønsson & Fjeldså 2006). If the genus would be split into two or more, the Puff-throated Babbler and its closest relatives would remain in Pellorneum.
This bird is a common resident breeder in the Himalayas and the hills of India and parts of southeast Asia. Like most babblers, it is not migratory, and has short rounded wings and a weak flight. Its habitat is scrub and bamboo thickets, where it builds its nest on the ground, laying 2-5 eggs.
Puff-throated Babblers are plain brown above, and white, heavily streaked with brown, below. They have a chestnut crown, long buff supercilium and dusky cheeks. The throat is white, and the bird's habit of puffing it out gives it its English name. Puff-throated Babblers have strong legs, and are quite terrestrial. They can often be seen creeping through undergrowth in search of their insect food, looking at first glance like a Song Thrush.
[edit] References
- BirdLife International (2004). Pellorneum ruficeps. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 12 May 2006. Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern
- Grimmett, Richard; Inskipp, Carol, Inskipp, Tim & Byers, Clive (1999): Birds of India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, and the Maldives. Princeton University Press, Princeton, N.J.. ISBN 0-691-04910-6
- Jønsson, Knud A. & Fjeldså, Jon (2006): A phylogenetic supertree of oscine passerine birds (Aves: Passeri). Zool. Scripta 35(2): 149–186. doi::10.1111/j.1463-6409.2006.00221.x (HTML abstract)
- Kazmierczak, Krys & van Perlo, Ber (2000): A Field Guide to the Birds of the Indian Subcontinent. Pica Press, Sussex. ISBN 978-1-873403-79-2
