Tawny-bellied Babbler
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| Tawny-bellied Babbler | ||||||||||||||
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| Dumetia hyperythra (Franklin, 1831) |
The Tawny-bellied Babbler, Dumetia hyperythra 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 Tawny-bellied Babbler is a resident breeding bird in India, Sri Lanka and southwest Nepal. Its habitat is scrub and tall grassland. It builds its nest in a bush, concealed in dense masses of foliage. The normal clutch is three or four eggs. This species, like most babblers, is not migratory, and has short rounded wings and a weak flight.
The Tawny-bellied Babbler is a small babbler at 13cm including its long tail. It is dark brown above and orange-buff below, with a rufous grey crown. Three of the four races have white throats, but D. h. hyperythra of east India has the throat concolorous with its underparts.
Tawny-bellied Babblers feed mainly on insects and nectar.
Reference
- Birds of India by Grimmett, Inskipp and Inskipp, ISBN 0-691-04910-6