Brown babbler

Appearance

The brown babbler is a medium sized "Turdoides" babbler, measuring 22–25 centimetres in length and weighs around 52–80 grams. The plumage is grey-brown with a white-streaked throat and breast and a scaled head. The wings are bronze-brown, the bill black and the legs dusky or slaty black. The iris of the eyes are yellow. The sexes are alike, and juvenile birds are like the adults but with plainer and browner plumage and brown irises.

Distribution

The brown babbler inhabits the broad band of the Sahel between the Sahara Desert and the tropical forests of Western Africa, from southern Mauritania, Senegal and the Gambia to southern Sudan, Uganda and western Kenya. The species lives in open savanna, wooded grasslands, riparian habitat in drier areas, degraded cultivation, farmlands, parks and gardens. The species is common across its range and readily lives in human modified habitat and is not considered threatened with extinction.

The species is mostly sedentary, but is thought to make some seasonal movements based upon local conditions related to the rainy seasons. In central Burkina Faso it is observed more frequently during the rainy season, and it has also been observed to be erratically absent or present in the Kampala region of Uganda.

Behavior

The brown babbler consumes a variety of insects including ants, beetles, termites, and praying mantises, as well as other invertebrates, berries, and fruit. It will also opportunistically take carrion. They generally forage on the ground and in family paries of up to 14 individuals.

Habitat

The brown babbler inhabits the broad band of the Sahel between the Sahara Desert and the tropical forests of Western Africa, from southern Mauritania, Senegal and the Gambia to southern Sudan, Uganda and western Kenya. The species lives in open savanna, wooded grasslands, riparian habitat in drier areas, degraded cultivation, farmlands, parks and gardens. The species is common across its range and readily lives in human modified habitat and is not considered threatened with extinction.

The species is mostly sedentary, but is thought to make some seasonal movements based upon local conditions related to the rainy seasons. In central Burkina Faso it is observed more frequently during the rainy season, and it has also been observed to be erratically absent or present in the Kampala region of Uganda.