Grey-crowned Babbler
Pomatostomus temporalis· 弯嘴鹛科(2 photos)
Locations:
Grey-crowned Babbler
29 cm. Largest babbler: eye pale yellow (dark in immature); crown/nape pale grey; broad white eyebrow over black mask; upperparts brown-black; underparts warm brown in nominate race, rich rufous-chestnut in race rubeculus ('Red-breasted Babbler'). Habits like other babblers; feeds higher, in larger trees. In flight, note chestnut wingpatch.
- Other name
- Happy Family; Red-breasted Babbler; Yahoo.
- Similar Species
- White-browed Babbler.
- Voice
- clear 'yahoo', sometimes in chorus; brisk 'go-wah-hee, go-wah-hee'; strident 'peeoo peeoo'; falsetto 'put-yair, put-yair'.
- Habitat
- open forests, woodlands, scrublands; farmlands, outer suburbs.
- Breeding
- June-Oct.; March-June in WA.
- Nest
- large, domed, of sticks, with spout-like entrance; lined with grass, bark fibre, rootlets, feathers, wool; 3-6 m in shrub, sapling. Extra nests serve as communal roosts.
- Eggs
- 2-6; buff to purple-brown, dark grey; with dark brown scribbles.
- Range & Status
- nominate race: from extreme se. SA, through n. Vic., s. to Mornington Pen., but mostly n. of Divide; in NSW, e. to Hunter Valley region but mostly w. of Divide, inland to c. Balranald-Ivanhoe-Yantabulla; in Q, widespread except far sw. corner. Race rubeculus: from w. of Winton-Normanton (Q) to s. NT-ne. SA (to c. Oodnadatta, but absent from Simpson and W. Deserts); w. to Pilbara (WA), coastally s. to Wooramel R., s. inland to c. upper Murchison R.-Wiluna. Sedentary. Seriously declining in settled se. Aust.
- Distribution key to races
- 1. Pomatostomus temporalis temporalis 2. Pomatostomus temporalis rubeculus
