Chestnut-capped Babbler
Timalia pileata
Distinctive brown babbler with a small black mask, white throat, and rusty orange cap. Color scheme loosely similar to that of Streak-breasted Scimitar-Babbler, but has a proportionally longer and broader tail, no solid streaking on the breast, and a short, dark, uncurved bill. Inhabits reedbeds, tall grass, scrub, and weedy edges. Listen for its chattering and metallic call notes as flocks move around noisily in cover. Song is variable, but is usually some variant of a chittering whinny.
Taxonomy
- Scientific name
- Timalia pileata
- Authority
- Horsfield, 1821
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Timaliidae
- Genus
- Timalia
Range and habitat
This bird is native in Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand, and Vietnam.<p>The Sukla Phanta Wildlife Reserve in Nepal represents the western limit of its distribution.
- Migration
- Resident species
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
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Pericrocotus roseus
Pale, rather washed-out-looking minivet. Male has a white throat, pink breast, and bright red “apostrophe” on the wing. Female replaces male’s red and pink with yellow, but is otherwise similar. Both have prominent dark lores. Usually moves in pairs, but will form flocks outside of the breeding season. Breeds in a wide range of lowland and foothill forests; favors hill and valley forests in the winter. Gives twittering trill in flight.
Dark-faced Ground-Tyrant
Muscisaxicola maclovianus
Small and rather distinctive terrestrial flycatcher, breeding in the southern Andes at high elevation and migrating north in winter where it can also be found in lowlands. Breeds in open rocky areas, sometimes down to level of open forest. Migrants often in flocks, sometimes a few hundred birds, as on playing fields and beaches. Upperparts relatively dark gray with blackish face mask, and an inconspicuous dark rusty nape patch. Resident Falkland population larger and plainer overall, likely a different species; found on moorland and beaches.
Crested Black-Tyrant
Knipolegus lophotes
Large flycatcher found in grasslands and savannas with scattered trees. Unmistakable by its uniform black plumage and long thin crest; sexes similar. In flight shows a white wing patch. Usually silent, but the song is sharp and nasal “djew-pew.”
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