The Palawan striped babbler (''Zosterornis hypogrammicus'') 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
Zosteropidae
The white-eyes are a family, Zosteropidae, of small passerine birds native to tropical, subtropical and temperate Sub-Saharan Africa, southern and eastern Asia, and Australasia. White-eyes inhabit most tropical islands in the Indian Ocean, the ...
. It is one of the four striped babblers along with the
Negros striped babbler
The Negros striped babbler (''Zosterornis nigrorum'') is a species of bird in the family Zosteropidae. It is endemic to Negros Island in the Philippines. Its natural habitat is tropical moist montane forest in the range of 900–1,600 masl. It is ...
,
Panay striped babbler and
Luzon striped babbler. 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 ...
, where it is only found in
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 ...
. 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 ...
is tropical moist
montane forest
Montane ecosystems are found on the slopes of mountains. The alpine climate in these regions strongly affects the ecosystem because temperatures lapse rate, fall as elevation increases, causing the ecosystem to stratify. This stratification is ...
. 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 ...
.
Description
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 fairly small, localized bird of mid-elevation montane forest on Palawan. Medium-brown above and pale buffy below with heavy black streaks, especially on the chest. Note white throat, gray face, and pale rufous crown. Often found in mixed-species flocks. Somewhat similar to Pin-striped Tit-Babbler, but larger, with a white throat and a dark eye. Voice includes a downslurred nasal squeal and other varied calls." This species does not exhibit sexual dimorphism.
It is the most distinctive among the four striped babblers (others being the
Luzon striped babbler, the
Panay striped babbler and the
Negros striped babbler
The Negros striped babbler (''Zosterornis nigrorum'') is a species of bird in the family Zosteropidae. It is endemic to Negros Island in the Philippines. Its natural habitat is tropical moist montane forest in the range of 900–1,600 masl. It is ...
), which are generally plain brown versus the Palawan striped babbler's olive yellow markings.
Ecology and behavior
The stomach contents of 2 individuals contained insects, seeds and some vegetable matter. Found singly, in pairs and small groups. Joins mixed-species feeding flocks that include
Warbling white-eye
The warbling white-eye (''Zosterops japonicus'') is a small passerine bird in the white-eye family. The specific epithet is occasionally written ''japonica'', but this is incorrect due to the gender of the genus. Its native range includes much of ...
,
Mangrove whistler,
Mountain leaf warbler and
Palawan tit
The Palawan tit (''Pardaliparus amabilis'') is a species of bird in the tit family Paridae.
It is endemic to Palawan and the smaller islands of Calauit and Balabac in the Philippines. Within its range it is found in lowland forest habitats, in ...
. Gleans dead leaves searching for food and forages in all levels of the cannopy.
Birds in breeding condition with enlarged gonads found in the months of April and May. Otherwise, no information on breeding, nest and fledgling stages.
Habitat and conservation status
This species is known from primary montane mossy forest from 1,000 m to 2,000 m. It is only found on three mountains, namely
Mount Mantalingajan
Mount Mantalingajan (or Mantalingahan or Mantaling) is the highest mountain in the island province of Palawan in the Philippines, with an elevation of above sea level, its ranked List of islands by highest point, 68th-highest peak of an island ...
, Mt. Victoria and Mt. Borangbato.
Despite its extremely limited range, IUCN has assessed this bird as least concern but was formerly assessed as
near-threatened. This species' main threat is
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 ...
with wholesale clearance of forest habitats as a result of logging, agricultural conversion and mining activities occurring within the range.The whole of
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 ...
was designated as a Biosphere Reserve; however, protection and enforcement of laws has been difficult and these threats still continue.
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
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.
Palawan striped babbler
Birds of Palawan
Birds described in 1961
Taxonomy articles created by Polbot
{{Zosteropidae-stub
Endemic birds of the Philippines