Eyebrowed wren-babbler

Napothera epilepidota

Photo by David Lai (Oriental Bird Images)

Common name:
eyebrowed wren-babbler (en); zaragateiro-pequeno-de-sobrancelha (pt); petite turdinule (fr); ratina cejuda (es); streifenbrusttimalie (de)

Taxonomy:
Order Passeriformes
Family Timaliidae

Range:
This species is found from southern China, Bangladesh and extreme north-eastern India, through Indochina and into the Indonesian islands of Java, Sumatra and Borneo.

Size:
These birds are 10-11 cm long.

Habitat:
The eyebrowed wren-babbler is found in moist tropical forests, including broadleaved evergreen forests, secondary forests, mixed dipterocarp forests and gallery forests.

Diet:
They feed on various arthropods, including ants, grasshoppers, beetles and spiders.

Breeding:
Eyebrowed wren-babblers breed in November-June, varying among different parts of their range. The nest is a dome or cup made of decaying plant material, where the female lays 3-4 eggs. There is no available information regarding the incubation and fledging periods.

Conservation:
IUCN status - LC (Least Concern)
This species has a very large breeding range and is described as generally fairly common across its range, although rare in India and Bhutan. The population is suspected to be in decline owing to ongoing habitat destruction and fragmentation.