About the Puff-throated Babbler
The puff-throated babbler or spotted babbler is a species of passerine bird found in Asia. They are found in scrub and moist forest mainly in hilly regions. They forage in small groups on the forest floor, turning around leaf litter to find their prey and usually staying low in the undergrowth where they can be hard to spot. However, they have loud and distinct calls, including a morning song, contact and alarm calls. It is the type species of the genus Pellorneum which may, however, currently include multiple lineages.
Text adapted from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
ID tip
Puff-throated babblers are brown above, and white below with heavily brown streaks towards the breast and belly. They have a chestnut crown, long buff supercilium and dusky cheeks. The throat is white, and is sometimes puffed out giving it the English name. Puff-throated babblers have strong legs, and spend a lot of time on the forest floor. They can often be seen creeping through undergrowth in search of their insect food, looking at first glance like a song thrush. Some subspecies have streaks on the mantle while others, especially in Peninsular India, are unstreaked.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
What the Puff-throated Babbler sounds like
Where it lives
When to see it
Peak activity in February · a resident species across most of its range
Easily confused with
Buff-breasted BabblerPellorneum tickelliThe buff-breasted babbler is a species of bird in the family Pellorneidae.
Javan Black-capped BabblerPellorneum capistratumThe Javan black-capped babbler is a species of bird in the family Pellorneidae.
Short-tailed BabblerPellorneum malaccenseThe mourning babbler, previously the short-tailed babbler, is a species of bird in the ground babbler family Pellorneidae.
Learn the Puff-throated Babbler for real
BeakBrain drills you on photos and calls until you can greet this bird by name in the field. Free to play, on any device.
Play BeakBrainEvery photo and recording on this page is credited to its author under the licence shown. Spotted a problem with this page, or have a better photo? Contribute.