Brown-capped Babbler

Overview

The brown-capped babbler (Pellorneum fuscocapillus) is a smallish to medium-sized resident bird found exclusively in Sri Lanka. It is classified as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List and belongs to the family Pellorneidae.

Identification

• Brown plumage above and rich cinnamon below, featuring a distinct dark brown crown.
• 16 cm in length including a long tail, with short dark bills and short rounded wings.
• Characteristic calls are often the best indication of presence, with males making a distinctive 'pretty dear' sound.

Habitat

This species is an endemic resident breeding bird in Sri Lanka, where it inhabits forest undergrowth and thick scrub. It is non-migratory and has a weak flight, existing in three subspecies across the low country dry zone, hill country, and low country wet zone.

Diet

The diet consists mainly of insects. The bird forages within the dense vegetation it prefers, which often makes it difficult to observe directly.

Did you know?

The bird features on a 4 rupee Sri Lankan postal stamp and is known in the Sinhala language as 'parandel-kurulla', which translates to 'dried-grass colored bird'.