The chestnut-faced babbler (''Zosterornis whiteheadi'') is a species of

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweigh ...

in the white-eye family

Zosteropidae The white-eyes are a family, Zosteropidae, of small passerine birds native to tropical, subtropical and temperate Sub-Saharan Africa, southern and eastern Asia, and Australasia. White-eyes inhabit most tropical islands in the Indian Ocean, the ...

. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

to the island of

Luzon Luzon (; ) is the largest and most populous island in the Philippines. Located in the northern portion of the Philippines archipelago, it is the economic and political center of the nation, being home to the country's capital city, Manila, as ...

in the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

. There are two subspecies, ''Z. w. whiteheadi'' in northern and central Luzon, and ''Z. w. sorsogonensis'' in southeastern Luzon. The species is generally found in mountain forests, generally above 1000 m (although occasionally down to 100m). Within its range it is catholic in its choice of habitat, frequenting broadleaf forests, moist mossy forests, pine forest, open forest, scrub and human modified habitat as well. The chestnut-faced babbler is a medium-sized babbler, 15 cm in length and weighing between 17–28 g. The

plumage Plumage ( "feather") is a layer of feathers that covers a bird and the pattern, colour, and arrangement of those feathers. The pattern and colours of plumage differ between species and subspecies and may vary with age classes. Within species, ...

of this species is not

sexually dimorphic Sexual dimorphism is the condition where the sexes of the same animal and/or plant species exhibit different morphological characteristics, particularly characteristics not directly involved in reproduction. The condition occurs in most ani ...

, and that of juveniles has not been described. They have a chestnut face with a grey crown and nape, and an incomplete white eye ring. The wings and tail are olive-brown and the flanks paler olive, tending towards buff-yellow on the breast. The subspecies ''Z. w. sorsogonensis'' is similar, but the crown and nape are edged in black. The

call Call or Calls may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Games * Call, a type of betting in poker * Call, in the game of contract bridge, a bid, pass, double, or redouble in the bidding stage Music and dance * Call (band), from Lahore, Paki ...

is described as rapid, busy and metallic. The species feeds on seeds, fruit, insects (particularly

beetle Beetles are insects that form the order Coleoptera (), in the superorder Endopterygota. Their front pair of wings are hardened into wing-cases, elytra, distinguishing them from most other insects. The Coleoptera, with about 400,000 describ ...

s) and spiders. Single birds, pairs or flocks of up to thirty will feed, usually in the lower growth of the forest, but occasionally up to the canopy. They will join

mixed-species feeding flock A mixed-species feeding flock, also termed a mixed-species foraging flock, mixed hunting party or informally bird wave, is a flock of usually insectivorous birds of different species that join each other and move together while foraging. These ar ...

s with other species. Water is obtained from pitcher plants.

References

*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 The ''Handbook of the Birds of the World'' (HBW) is a multi-volume series produced by the Spanish publishing house Lynx Edicions in partnership with BirdLife International. It is the first handbook to cover every known living species of bird. T ...

'', Vol. 12. Picathartes to Tits and Chickadees. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. {{Taxonbar, from=Q3233141 chestnut-faced babbler Birds of Luzon chestnut-faced babbler chestnut-faced babbler Taxonomy articles created by Polbot