Brown-capped Babbler

Taxobox
name = Brown-capped Babbler
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Aves
ordo = Passeriformes
familia = Timaliidae
genus = " Pellorneum "
species = "P. fuscocapillum"
binomial = "Pellorneum fuscocapillum"
binomial_authority = (Blyth, 1849)The Brown-capped Babbler, "Pellorneum fuscocapillum", is an Old World babbler. The Old World babblers are a large family of passerine birds characterised by soft fluffy plumage. These are birds of tropical areas, with the greatest variety in southeast Asia.

The Brown-capped Babbler is an endemic resident breeding bird in Sri Lanka. Its habitat is forest undergrowth and thick scrub. This species, like most babblers, is not migratory, and has short rounded wings and a weak flight.

This babbler builds its nest on the ground or in a hole, concealed in dense masses of foliage. The normal clutch is two or three eggs.

The Brown-capped Babbler measures 16cm including its long tail. It is brown above and rich cinnamon below. It has a dark brown crown.

Brown-capped Babblers have short dark bills. Their food is mainly insects. They can be difficult to observe in the dense vegetation they prefer, but like other babblers, these are noisy birds, and their characteristic calls are often the best indication that these birds are present.

References

* "Birds of India" by Grimmett, Inskipp and Inskipp, ISBN 0-691-04910-6
* "A Field Guide to the Birds of the Indian Subcontinent" by Kazmierczak and van Perlo, ISBN 978-1-873403-79-2
* 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", Vol. 12. Picathartes to Tits and Chickadees. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona.