Jungle Babbler
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| Jungle Babbler | ||||||||||||||
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| Turdoides striatus (Dumont, 1823) |
The Jungle Babbler, Turdoides striatus, is an Old World babbler. The Old World babblers are a large family of Old World passerine birds characterised by soft fluffy plumage. These are birds of tropical areas, with the greatest variety in southeast Asia.
The Jungle Babbler is a resident breeding bird in India and Pakistan. In the past, the Orange-billed Babbler, Turdoides rufescens, of Sri Lanka was considered to be a race of this babbler, but is now normally given full species status.
The Jungle Babbler's habitat is forest and cultivation. This species, like most babblers, is not migratory, and has short rounded wings and a weak flight.
It is quite common in Indian forests It builds its nest in a tree, concealed in dense masses of foliage. The normal clutch is two to six deep greenish blue eggs.
These birds are grey brown below, with some mottling on the throat and breast. The upperparts are a slightly darker shade. The head is grey, and the bill is yellow. The race T. s. somervillei of Maharastra has an orange tail and dark primary flight feathers.
The Jungle Babbler lives in flocks of seven to ten or more. It is a noisy bird, and the presence of a flock may generally be known at some distance by the continual chattering, squeaking and chirping produced by its members. It feeds mainly on insects, but also eats nectar and berries.
Reference
- Birds of India by Grimmett, Inskipp and Inskipp, ISBN 0-691-04910-6