Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Horsfield's and Short-tailed Babbler

Short-tailed Babbler Trichastoma malaccense and  Horsfield's Babbler Trichastoma sepiarium occur in lowland and hill forests, they are both quite common, with Short-tailed commoner throughout while Horsfield's is locally common.

Short-tailed Babbler is easier to see  in RDC, Sepilok while Horsfield's is easier in Tawau Hills Park.

They are similar in size at 14 cm, live in similar habitats and exhibiting similar foraging behavior. They can be confusing to separate at first glance, both having short tail and similar color scheme, but Short-tailed Babbler can be easily identified by the presence of a prominant moustachial stripe with pale throat and breast.

Short-tailed Babbler
Horsfield's Babbler
 
Happy birding.
 

4 comments:

  1. Jason Bugay Reyes10:42 AM

    Excellent comparison sifu !

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  2. Jason Bugay Reyes10:44 AM

    By the way, there are resident Horsfield's Babbler too behind the Hot Spring area on the way to Kipungit Waterfall :)

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  3. Choy Wai Mun10:20 AM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

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  4. Choy Wai Mun10:23 AM

    Wong, these 2 are more often heard than seen over here. To be able to capture their photos is a good achievement by itself.

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