Long-billed wren-babbler

Rimator malacoptilus

Photo by Christoph Moning (Oriental Bird Images)

Common name:
long-billed wren-babbler (en); zaragateiro-pequeno-de-bico-comprido (pt); turdinule à long bec (fr); ratina picuda (es); Assamzwergsäbler (de)

Taxonomy:
Order Passeriformes
Family Timaliidae

Range:
This species is found in extreme north-eastern India, and in adjacent parts of northern Myanmar, Bhutan, and north-western Yunnan in southern China.

Size:
These birds are 11-12 cm long and weigh 18-21 g.

Habitat:
The long-billed wren-babbler is mostly found in broadleaved evergreen temperate forests, also using forest edges, bamboo thickets and second growths. They occur at altitudes of 900-2.700 m.

Diet:
They forage on the ground and in the forest undergrowth, taking various invertebrates.

Breeding:
These birds breed in May-July. The nest is a untidy globe with an entrance near the top, made of loosely woven dead leaves, grass, fern fronds and roots. It is placed on the ground, among the leaf litter, near the base of a large tree. The female lays around 4 pinkish-white eggs with reddish-brown spots and blotches. There is no information regarding the incubation and fledging periods.

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