Ashy Tailorbird

Overview

The ashy tailorbird, Orthotomus ruficeps, is a small songbird native to Southeast Asia, now classified within the family Cisticolidae. It is widespread across the region and has been assessed as Least Concern by the IUCN due to its wide distribution and lack of observed population declines.

Identification

• Small songbird measuring 7 cm in length and weighing 12 g.
• Males feature a rufous-chestnut face, chin and forecrown, contrasting with an ashy grey back, upper wings and throat that lightens to near-white on the belly.
• Females resemble males but possess a white chin and throat, a pale grey wash across the breast, and paler upperparts.
• The bill is long, slightly decurved at the tip, bark brown above and horn coloured below.

Habitat

Found across Southeast Asia from southern Myanmar and Thailand through the Malay Peninsula, Singapore, and the Greater Sunda Islands, including a disjunct population in southern Vietnam and Cambodia. Its natural habitats include lowland coastal forests, mangroves, swamp forests and scrubland, though it has been recorded up to 900 m elevation and typically occupies more open habitats on islands.

Diet

The ashy tailorbird is an insectivore that forages in pairs or small family groups within the forest canopy, undergrowth and edges. It consumes ants, caterpillars, flies and beetles, while in oil palm plantations it has adapted to feed on the weevil Elaeidobius kamerunicus.

Did you know?

Like other tailorbirds, this species constructs its nest by stitching the two sides of a large leaf together using plant fibres or spiderweb. It is targeted by brood parasites such as the plaintive cuckoo, which likely exploits these vulnerable nest sites.