The melodious babbler (''Malacopteron palawanense'') is a species of

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...

in the family

Pellorneidae The ground babblers are a family, Pellorneidae, of mostly Old World passerine birds belonging to the superfamily Sylvioidea. They are quite diverse in size and coloration, and usually characterised by soft, fluffy plumage and a tail on average t ...

. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

to the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

and found only on

Palawan Palawan (, ), officially the Province of Palawan (; ), is an archipelagic province of the Philippines that is located in the region of Mimaropa. It is the largest province in the country in terms of total area of . The capital and largest c ...

and Balabac. Its natural

habitat In ecology, habitat refers to the array of resources, biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species' habitat can be seen as the physical manifestation of its ...

tropical moist lowland forest Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests (TSMF), also known as tropical moist forest, is a subtropical and tropical forest habitat type defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). Description TSMF is generally found in large ...

. It is threatened by

habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss or habitat reduction) occurs when a natural habitat is no longer able to support its native species. The organisms once living there have either moved elsewhere, or are dead, leading to a decrease ...

due to deforestation, illegal logging and due to typhoons. Along with the Palawan flycatcher and Falcated wren-babbler, they have been dubbed the Tres Amigos (Spanish) or Three Friends as some of the most sought after birds in Palawan. It is known for its musical call hence the name.

Description and taxonomy

EBird eBird is an online database of bird observations providing scientists, researchers and amateur naturalists with real-time data about bird distribution and abundance. Originally restricted to sightings from the Western Hemisphere, the project e ...

describes the bird as "A medium-sized bird of lowland forest tangles and bamboo on Palawan and Balabac. Medium-brown above with more rufous on the tail, shoulder, and forecrown. Has a white throat, a white belly, and white under the base of the tail, with a pale brown chest and sides. Note the gray cheek, the pale eye, and the hook-tipped bill. Somewhat similar to Pin-striped Tit-Babbler, but larger, with whitish rather than yellowish underparts. Song is a short varied sequence of whistled notes, sounding rather tuneless. Also gives a series of forceful downslurred “piu!” notes varying in pitch and volume." This species is monotypic.

Ecology and behavior

Diet is largely unknown but presumed to feed on insects and some vegetable matter. It is often seen foraging alone or in small groups foraging in the understorey in tangles and vines. Birds in breeding but otherwise nothing is known about its breeding behaviour and the nest remains undescribed.

Habitat and conservation status

The species inhabits tropical moist lowland

primary forest An old-growth forest or primary forest is a forest that has developed over a long period of time without Disturbance (ecology), disturbance. Due to this, old-growth forests exhibit unique ecological features. The Food and Agriculture Organizati ...

and mature secondary forest only up to 100 meters above sea level. It is assessed as

near threatened A near-threatened species is a species which has been Conservation status, categorized as "Near Threatened" (NT) by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as that may be vulnerable to Endangered species, endangerment in the ne ...

under the

IUCN 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 status ...

but was formerly

endangered An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching, inv ...

due to its role as a true lowland forest specialist. However, it was uplisted as surveys in the 1990s found them in fairly good density in its remaining habitat. Populations believed to be decreasing due to habitat loss, deforestation and mining. The whole of

was designated as a Biosphere Reserve; however, protection and enforcement of laws has been difficult and these threats still continue. It occurs in just one protected area in the

Iwahig Prison and Penal Farm Iwahig Prison and Penal Farm in Puerto Princesa, Palawan, Philippines is one of seven operating units of the Bureau of Corrections under the Department of Justice. Currently, it houses some 4,000 inmates. History American territorial peri ...

. This species will likely be uplisted to

Vulnerable species A vulnerable species is a species which has been Conservation status, categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as being threatened species, threatened with extinction unless the circumstances that are threatened species, ...

as there is believed to be a significant decline of this species due to the damage from

Typhoon Odette Typhoon Rai, known in the Philippines as Super Typhoon Odette, was a deadly and extremely destructive super typhoon, which was the second costliest typhoon in Philippine history behind Typhoon Haiyan in 2013. Rai was a powerful rare tropical c ...

. This species is especially reliant on thick underbrush and the degradation of this areas, even temporarily due to typhoons can significantly cause population declines and low surviviability. Population is now estimated at just 4,500 to 13,500 mature individuals with a declining population.

References

;Citations ;Bibliography *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 The ''Handbook of the Birds of the World'' (HBW) is a multi-volume series produced by the Spanish publishing house Lynx Edicions in partnership with BirdLife International. It is the first handbook to cover every known living species of bird. ...

'', Vol. 12. Picathartes to Tits and Chickadees. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. {{Taxonbar, from=Q1586772 Malacopteron Birds of Palawan Birds described in 1895 Taxa named by Johann Büttikofer Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Endemic birds of the Philippines