The Babblers are a huge family of (mostly) tropical forest birds in the
Old World. There is much diversity within the family. A good chunk (50
species; 19%) are called laughingthrushes in the genus Garrulax.
These are rangy, mid-sized, floppy-tailed landbirds like the Streaked
Laughingthrush (left or above) of the Himalayan mid-elevations. The
Streaked Laughingthrush is easy to observe as it forages in pairs in open
rocky areas in the mountains; its foraging behavior, its size, and the
fact one finds it mostly in closely-knit pairs all resemble the California
Towhees Pipilo crissalis in my home county. Many other laughingthrushes,
however, are elusive species in thick jungle, best located by voice. On
a multi-week trip to India, for example, we heard noisy flocks of the striking
and widespread White-crested Laughingthrush Garrulax leucolophus
several times -- sometimes quite close -- and yet Rita and I only saw them
on our next-to-final day and then only in flight across a small densely
vegetated canyon. All the other times it sounded like they were laughing
at us!
It is still not quite clear how to defines babblers. Recent studies have begun to clarify the situation (e.g., Cibois 2003, Alström et al. 2006, Jønsson & Fjeldså 2006) but there is uncertainty whether the huge babbler assemblage should be allocated to one or two families. It is now known that the Sylvia warblers — the original, base genus in the 'Old World Warblers' Sylviidae — is more closely related to babblers than other Old World Warblers [see a discussion of the break-up of the Old World Warblers]. Alström et al. (2006) would apparently combine all the obvious babblers with the Sylvia warblers, the white-eyes, the parrotbills, and the Wrentit of the New World to form one huge Timaliidae Family. Under that approach, the family would have about 390 species. Jønsson & Fjeldså (2006) took a slightly different approach. They divide this huge group into two "clades" [evolutionary lineages] that are each others closest relatives. If one were to assign Family rank to each "clade," there would be the Babbler Family [Timaliidae] of ~340 species, which include all the White-eyes once considered to be a separate family, and a second Family that includes the Sylvia 'warblers', the Wrentit, various babblers, and almost all of the parrotbills (also once considered a separate family). I like the latter approach for the moment; read about this second group ['Sylviidae'] on another page. Asia is the center of babbler distribution but they occur more widely than that. |
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 Babblers
also occur in Africa. This family group of Northern Pied-Babblers
(right) in Tanzania were huddled together on one branch, a behavior I've
also seen in other species of babbler in northern China. A fair number
of species forage together in loose family groupings. Before the recent
biochemical research, Fry, Keith & Urban (2000) described the Timaliidae
this way: "A large, heterogeneous, mainly Asiatic family with a complex
taxonomic history and fluctuating composition -- many taxa have been moved
between Timaliidae and Sylviidae [Old World warblers] or Turdidae [Thrushes].
Small to quite large passerines, robust, strong-legged, often pale-eyed
...
sexes usually alike, rather sombre ... Bills more robust than those of
Sylvidae (probably the closest relatives of babblers)... Characteristic
egg-white protein profile. Syrinx lacks 'turdine thumb' which is so characteristic
of Turdidae and Muscicapidae [Old World Flycatchers]... Flight weak --
short flights low in dense vegetation, or of 50m very low over open ground
between clumps of shrubs.... Numerous babblers stay in small family parties
year-round and are known or likely co-operative breeders; individuals of
many species clump or huddle tightly together when loafing and roosting...".
Some of these generalities still apply, although genetic evidence now allows
us to clearly separate babblers from thrushes or any of the several families
into which the Old World Warblers have been divided. |
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 Asia
is the center of timalid diversity. Some babblers are tiny and colorful
like the Chestnut-tailed Minla (right) beautifully photographed
in n. India by Ron Saldino. They and other small babblers can be
found in mixed species flocks or isolated pairs inside the forest. Those
babblers known as yuhinas (11 species in the genus Yuhina) recall
North American titmice in their behavior and small crests but many are
much more colorful, like the Chestnut-crested Yuhina (below left)
in the montane forests of Borneo
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Most babblers have a rather subdued plumage pattern although bright rufous appears in a good many species. Some examples of fairly typical babbler types scattered among the wide geographic range of babblers include these: Chestnut-capped Laughingthrush (below left) of montane forests in Borneo, Sumatra & Malaya; Red-billed Leiothrix (below center in a great shot by Ron Saldino) widespread in the Himalayan foothills (and introduced into Hawaii); and Javan Fulvetta (below right) restricted to the mountains of central & western Java.
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A goodly portion of the babblers are ground-loving species, elusive and
difficult to observe in the forest understory. Some of my favorites are
the wren-babblers -- Asia's version of ant-pittas. Most of these are quite
small, chubby, long-legged birds with various patterns of spots or streaks
in brown, blackish, or rufescent plumage. There are 23 wren-babblers in
6 genera, almost any one of which is the highlight of any day's birding.
Some are quite specialized (limestone hills, swamps, bamboo, humid fern
forest) and a fair number are rare and local; others are endemic to Borneo,
or the Philippines, or Sumatra.
Another set of mostly undergrowth species are the 9 species of scimitar-babblers in the genus Pomatorhinus. These have long decurved bills used to work through the leaf litter -- very like the thrashers of North America which they also resemble in size and body shape. An example is the Rusty-cheeked Scimitar-Babbler (left) of mountain foothills from India to n. Thailand. Like all birds of shady habitats, it is difficult to snap a photo without a complex flash set-up but perhaps you can get an idea of this group from this white-eyed, pale-billed species. The 7 species of babblers in the genus Pellorneum are also elusive skulkers. Additional forest species that can be difficult to locate are mid-canopy species such as shrike-babblers (5 species in the genus Pteruthius), barwings (6 species in Actinodura), sibias (7 species in Heterophasia) and two species of Crocias (Crocias). There are also numerous babblers, some occurring in mixed forest flocks and others as territorial pairs, in the genera Stachyris (28 species), Malacopteron (6 species) and Trichastoma (4 species) to mention just a few others. |
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In contrast to the difficult forest babblers, 29 species (10% of all babblers) are open-country birds in the genus Turdoides. A few are marsh birds but most occur in open savanna or thornscrub where they travel in small noisy family parties, often leap-frogging each other as they move quickly from bush to bush so that the whole party appears to be "rolling" across the plain. The Jungle Babbler (below left) is quite common in the dry forests of the Indian subcontinent; in Ranthambhor Nat'l Park it has become so tame that it searches the tourist's jeeps for tidbits. And while the vast majority of babblers are Asian species, 37 species occur in Africa including 14 of the Turdoides babblers. An example is the Bare-cheeked Babbler (below right in a fine shot by Greg W. Lasley), endemic to the arid scrub of Namibia and sw. Angola.
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 It
is now known that the white-eyes are genetically embedded within the Babblers;
The white-eyes are a mostly homogeneous, Old World tropical group of small
arboreal birds. The name comes not from a white iris, but from a white-feathered
ring that is a prominent feature around the dark eye of many of these otherwise
plain little green birds. Many species are isolated on oceanic islands,
as is the
Caroline Islands White-eye (left), endemic to Truk (Chuuk),
Palau & Pohnpei in Micronesia. When I first visited Micronesia in 1978,
the widespread white-eye over much of the region was considered a single
species, the Bridled White-eye
Z. conspicillatus. Thus, when I photographed
this bird (left) on Truk, it was considered just one of the island races
of Bridled White-eye. Now, however, Bridled White-eye has been split into
at least two species and the bird I photographed is known as the Caroline
Island White-eye (Pratt 1987, Sibley & Monroe 1991). [There is a special
irony associated with that decision and this photo. Years after I visited
Micronesia, I purchased, sight unseen, a booklet called The Native Forest
Birds of Guam (Jenkins 1983). Upon opening it, I was shocked (SHOCKED,
I tell you!) to find that MY photograph of "Bridled White-eye" (the very
same bird shown above top left) was featured in color on the frontispiece
of the publication! No one had asked my permission to do so, but there
it was in living color. It took me days to even figure out how they got
the photo (possibly from a friend for whom I'd made a copy). At least they
spelled my name correctly and did attribute the bird to Truk.....but now
a species that has never occurred on Guam is the featured photo in the
book on Guam!] |
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 Seventy
species (74%) of all white-eyes are placed in the genus Zosterops,
and these small birds are often found in chattering flocks moving through
the canopy. Some, like the Silver-eye (right, shown eating a crab-apple
on Heron I. which is part of Australia's Great Barrier Reef), are common
and widespread, but there are a good many rare or endangered species in
the group, including 21 (nearly a quarter of all species) that were threatened
enough to warrant accounts in Collar et al. (1994).
Some standard characteristics are a brush-tipped tongue for feeding on nectar (along with insects), semi-pendant nests, and (where known) pale blue or white eggs (Coates 1990). |
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 Some
of the white-eyes are montae specialists, as is the Mountain White-eye
(left) on the Philippines. On some of the larger Philippine islands, three
species of white-eyes divide up elevational zones. Where that occurs, this
species is always at the highest elevation.
White-eyes are widely distributed in the Old World, with continental representatives in Africa, Asia, and Australian. However, there are an inordinate number of island specialties, and no group of birds is such an "island specialist" (excepting, perhaps, the megapodes). By my count, 83 white-eyes (88%) are restricted to islands and do not occur on any major continent, and 70 species (three-quarters of all white-eyes) occur on only rather small islands (excluding New Guinea, Borneo, Sumatra, Madagascar, and the larger Philippine islands). There are two white-eyes endemic to tiny Lifou Island in the Loyalties off New Caledonia, and many species seem to be described in Clements (1991) like this for the White-throated White-eye Z. meeki: "Uplands of Tagula Island (off se New Guinea). Status unknown." No wonder I've seen only a third of the world's white-eyes! |
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 Many
species are difficult enough to see, let alone photograph. Each of the
islands in the Gulf of Guinea, Africa, has its own endemic, as do most
of the islands in the Indian Ocean. Some of those representatives, like
the Seychelles White-eye Z. modestus (which I poorly photographed
in 1992) have declined during the last years of the 20th century to endangered
status. Others, like the Réunion Olive White-eye (right),
are still doing fine.
All of the white-eyes I've photographed have broad white eye-rings, but a fair number do not, and sometime go by names such as "Black-eyes." There is a unique little bird on w. Timor which has been called the Timor White-eye (Clements 1991), the Spot-breasted White-eye (Sibley & Monroe 1991), the Spot-breasted Black-eye, and the Timor Ibon. Barbara Magnuson, who has seen this species with a Ben King tour, tells me that birds leap-frogged over one another, recalling New World manakins. It and a related species on Flores are in their own genus (Heleia) and it is possible that these birds are not white-eyes at all. Indeed, Heleia, along with such genera as Rukia in Micronesia, Megazosterops in Palau, Woodfordia in the Solomons, and Hypocryptadius in the Philippines may be another group of birds entirely. Some preliminary DNA work has placed Rukia near Zosterops (Sibley & Monroe 1991), but most of these taxa have not been studied. I've seen a couple of them, and could easily believe they were a family separate and distinct from the otherwise rather homogenous white-eyes. All lack the broad white eye-rings and none act like typical white-eyes, and so the word "White-eye" in their name is misleading. For that reason, Ben King has suggested the Tagalog word for "small bird" as an appropriate moniker: "Ibon." Thus Hypocryptadius cinnamomeus becomes the Cinnamon Ibon rather than the misnomer "Cinnamon White-eye" of Clements (1991). While I do not agree with a number of King's taxonomic innovations and would discount most of his proposed new English names, in this special case his suggestion is a stroke of genius. No group deserves a different name more than these poorly studied, obscure, non-Zosterops "white-eyes." I applaud "Ibon" as a wonderfully coined choice! [Be the first one on YOUR block to use such a cool name....] |
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Photos: The Streaked Laughingthrush Garrulax lineatus was photographed at Sat Tal in northern India in March 2001. Ron Saldino photographed the Chestnut-tailed Minla Minla strigula near Lava in w. Bengal, India in late Feb 2001. The family of Northern Pied-Babbler Turdoides hypoleucus was in Tarangire Nat'l Park, Tanzania, on 5 Aug 2002. The Chestnut-crested Yuhina Yuhina everetti was on Mt. Kinabalu, Sabah, Borneo, Malaysia, on 5 Aug 1988, as was the Chestnut-capped Laughingthrush Garrulax mitratus. Ron Saldino photographed the Red-billed Leiothrix Leiothrix lutea near Corbett Nat'l Park, India in mid-March 2001. The Javan Fulvetta Alcippe pyrrhoptera was in Gede Nat'l Park, Java, Indonesia, on 27 Aug 1988. The Rusty-cheeked Scimitar-Babbler Pomatorhinus erythrogenys was at Sat Tal in the Himalayan foothills of Uttar Pradesh, India, in March 2001. The Jungle Babbler Turdoides striatus was in Ranthambhor Nat'l Park, Rajasthan, India, on 23 Mar 2001. Greg W. Lasley photographed the Bare-cheeked Babbler T. gymnogenys in Etosha Nat'l Park, Namibia, on 16 Oct 1998. The Caroline Islands White-eye Zosterops semperi was photographed on Moen I., Truk Lagoon, Micronesia, on 31 Aug 1978. The Silver-eye Z. lateralis was eating a crab-apple on Heron I., Great Barrier Reef, Australia, in Sep 1983. The Mountain White-eye Zosterops montanawas on Mt. Kitanglad, Mindanao, Philippines, on 24 Dec 2005. The Réunion Olive White-eye Z. olivaceus was in the forest above Le Brulé, Réunion I., Indian Ocean, on 4 Dec 1992 All photos © 2006 Don Roberson except those attributed to Ron Saldino or Greg W. Lasley, respectively, who hold those copyrights (used with permission here); all rights reserved. Bibliographic notes There is no recent "family book" covering the Babblers but good recent coverage of African species is in Fry et al. 2000. The Handbook of the Birds of the World series will soon reach this huge group of birds. Literature cited: Alström P., P.G.P. Ericson, U. Olsson, and P. Sundberg. 2006. Phylogeny and classification of the avian superfamily Sylvioidea. Molecular Phylogenetics & Evolution 38: 381-397. |
