The chestnut-capped babbler (''Timalia pileata'') is a

passerine bird 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 generally have an anisodactyl arrangement of their ...

of the family Timaliidae. It is

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unisp ...

within the genus ''Timalia''.

Taxonomy

The chestnut-capped babbler is placed as the sole species in the genus Timalia. It is divided into six

subspecies In Taxonomy (biology), biological classification, subspecies (: subspecies) is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (Morphology (biology), morpholog ...

with the following distribution: * ''T. p. bengalensis'' – lower

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 Earth's highest peaks, including the highest, Mount Everest. More than list of h ...

(

Nepal Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China Ch ...

Assam Assam (, , ) is a state in Northeast India, northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra Valley, Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . It is the second largest state in Northeast India, nor ...

and northwestern

Myanmar Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and has ...

) * ''T. p. smithi'' – northern Myanmar to southern

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

, northern

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

and northern

Indochina Mainland Southeast Asia (historically known as Indochina and the Indochinese Peninsula) is the continental portion of Southeast Asia. It lies east of the Indian subcontinent and south of Mainland China and is bordered by the Indian Ocean to th ...

* ''T. p.'' ''intermedia'' – central and southern Myanmar to southwestern Thailand * ''T. p. patriciae'' – western part of the central plains of Thailand * ''T. p. dictator'' – eastern and southeastern Thailand to southern Indochina * ''T. p. pileata'' –

Java Java is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea (a part of Pacific Ocean) to the north. With a population of 156.9 million people (including Madura) in mid 2024, proje ...

Related species

This species is most closely related to the two Indian species, the

tawny-bellied babbler The tawny-bellied babbler (''Dumetia hyperythra'') also known in older Indian works as the rufous-bellied babbler is a small babbler that forages in small groups in low scrub forests. Like other members of the large Old World babbler family they ...

and the dark-fronted babbler. Together they form a

sister group In phylogenetics, a sister group or sister taxon, also called an adelphotaxon, comprises the closest relative(s) of another given unit in an evolutionary tree. Definition The expression is most easily illustrated by a cladogram: Taxon A and ...

to the rest of the species in the family Timaliidae.

Description

The chestnut-capped babbler is a medium-sized (15.5–17 cm)

babbler Babbler may refer to: * Various small passerine birds: ** The Old World babblers, a large family of mostly Old World passerine birds ** The Ground babblers of family Pellorneidae ** Many species in the genera ''Argya'' and ''Turdoides'' in family ...

with a fairly long, wedge-shaped tail and a thick, black bill. The plumage is unbarred brown with characteristic head markings: a chestnut-coloured crown and black eye mask contrasting with a white forehead and white eyebrow line.

Ecology

Distribution

This bird is native in

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

Cambodia Cambodia, officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. It is bordered by Thailand to the northwest, Laos to the north, and Vietnam to the east, and has a coastline ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

Laos Laos, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic (LPDR), is the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by Myanmar and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the southeast, and Thailand to the west and ...

, and

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

. The Sukla Phanta Wildlife Reserve in

represents the western limit of its

distribution Distribution may refer to: Mathematics *Distribution (mathematics), generalized functions used to formulate solutions of partial differential equations *Probability distribution, the probability of a particular value or value range of a varia ...

Behaviour

The species is found in tall grass, reed beds and shrublands. It feeds on butterfly larvae, beetles and other insects. The bird breeds between February and October in India and between April and September in Southeast Asia. It probably lays several clutches.

Status

The species has a large range and population, but is thought to be declining in numbers due to habitat destruction and fragmentation, although not sufficiently so to be considered

threatened A threatened species is any species (including animals, plants and fungi) which is vulnerable to extinction in the near future. Species that are threatened are sometimes characterised by the population dynamics measure of ''critical depensatio ...

. The

International Union for Conservation of Nature The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the stat ...

(IUCN) therefore categorizes the species as "

Least Concern A least-concern species is a species that has been evaluated and categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as not being a focus of wildlife conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wil ...

". The global population has not been estimated, but it is described as locally common to uncommon.

References

* 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.

External links

BirdLife International: ''chestnut-capped babbler''
chestnut-capped babbler Birds of Southeast Asia Birds of Bangladesh Birds of Bhutan Birds of South China Birds of Nepal Birds of India chestnut-capped babbler Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Timaliidae-stub