The puff-throated babbler or spotted babbler (''Pellorneum ruficeps'') is a species of

passerine A passerine () is any bird of the order Passeriformes (; from Latin 'sparrow' and '-shaped'), which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds, passerines are distinguished from other orders of birds by t ...

bird found in Asia. They are found in scrub and ''moist'' forest mainly in hilly regions. They forage in small groups on the forest floor, turning around leaf litter to find their prey and usually staying low in the undergrowth where they can be hard to spot. However, they have loud and distinct calls, including a morning song, contact and alarm calls. It is the

type species In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specimen ...

of the

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

''Pellorneum'' which may, however, currently include multiple lineages.

Description

Puff-throatedBabbler (Pellorneum ruficeps)

Puff-throated babblers are brown above, and white below with heavily brown streaks towards the breast and belly. They have a chestnut crown, long buff supercilium and dusky cheeks. The throat is white, and is sometimes puffed out giving it the

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

name. Puff-throated babblers have strong legs, and spend a lot of time on the forest floor. They can often be seen creeping through undergrowth in search of their insect food, looking at first glance like a

song thrush The song thrush (''Turdus philomelos'') is a Thrush (bird), thrush that breeds across the West Palearctic. It has brown upper-parts and black-spotted cream or buff underparts and has three recognised subspecies. Its distinctive Birdsong, song, ...

. Some subspecies have streaks on the mantle while others, especially in Peninsular India, are unstreaked. The widespread distribution with population variations has led to nearly thirty subspecies being described. The nominate population is found in peninsular India (excluding the Western Ghats). The population in the northern Eastern Ghats is paler and has been called ''pallidum'' while a well-marked dark form occurs in the southern Western Ghats, which has been named ''granti'' (includes ''olivaceum''). The western Himalayas population is ''punctatum'' (includes ''jonesi'') and in the east is ''mandellii'', which has streaking on the back and nape as well as having call differences. In the east of India, south of the Brahmaputra River occurs ''chamelum'' while ''ripley'' is found in a small region in eastern Assam (Margherita). Further east in Manipur is ''vocale'' and ''pectorale'' in Arunachal Pradesh and northern Burma with ''stageri'' further south, followed by ''hilarum'', ''victoriae'' and ''minus''. Further east are found ''shanense'', ''subochraceum'', ''insularum'', ''indistinctum'', ''chtonium'', ''elbeli'', ''acrum'', ''oreum'', ''dusiti'', ''vividum'', ''ubonense'', ''euroum'', ''deignani'', ''dilloni'' and ''smithi''. Several others have been described and many populations are difficult to assign to subspecies. This is the type species for the genus ''Pellorneum'' and its generic placement is assured, although other species currently included in the genus may be reassigned.

Distribution and habitat

This bird is a common resident breeder in the

Himalayas The Himalayas, or Himalaya (; ; ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the planet's highest peaks, including the very highest, Mount Everest. Over 100 ...

and the forests of Asia. Like most babblers, it is not migratory, and has short rounded wings and a weak flight. Its habitat is scrub and

bamboo Bamboos are a diverse group of evergreen perennial flowering plants making up the subfamily Bambusoideae of the grass family Poaceae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family. The origin of the word "bamboo" is uncertain, bu ...

thickets and it forages by turning over leaves to find insects.

Behaviour and ecology

Puff-throated babblers vocalize often. Their calls are a series of whistling notes ascending in scale. Some calls have been transcribed as ''he'll beat you, pret-ty-sweet''. The calling can be persistent. The breeding season is mainly during the rainy season. They build a nest on the ground at the base of a bush. The nest is dome-shaped and constructed of leaves and twigs with an entrance on the side. The opening usually points downhill when the nest is on sloping ground. The clutch varies from 2 to 5 eggs, with northern populations tending towards larger clutches. Parent birds run rodent-like in the undergrowth as they move in and out of the nest. Young birds fledge and leave the nest about 12 to 13 days after hatching.

References

External links

Pictures and videos on the Internet Bird Collection
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1586627

puff-throated babbler The puff-throated babbler or spotted babbler (''Pellorneum ruficeps'') is a species of passerine bird found in Asia. They are found in scrub and ''moist'' forest mainly in hilly regions. They forage in small groups on the forest floor, turning ar ...

Birds of South Asia Birds of Southeast Asia