Puff-throated Babbler (Pellorneum ruficeps)
Order: PASSERIFORMES
Family: TIMALIIDAE Babblers
Scientific name: Pellorneum ruficeps
English name: Puff-throated Babbler
Characteristic: Size 17 cm. A small ground-living bird with distinctive brownish red crown, pale supercilium, white fluffy throat; underpart streaked with dark brown, while the upperpart wholly plain brown. An immature is of sombre-coloured, and without streaking on the underpart.
Distribution: India, China, Southeast Asia (except in the Southern part of Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore).
Habitat: Inhabiting dry dipterocarp forest, dry evergreen forest, secondary growths, scrub forest and bamboo forest, from the plain to 1,800 m. altitude. In Sakaerat area, it stays primarily in heavily-litteered roadside forests in the neighbourhood of the Main Station and in the dry evergreen forest.
Habit: Mainly terrestrial, concealing itself perfectly among leaf litter and undergrowths which is hard to discern and easily over-looked. It searchs for hiding insects among litter by hopping actively on its strong long legs. Its melodious call is often heard in early morning, not in other times of the day. Breeds between January and August; its dome-shaped nest is placed under a bush and is made of grass stems and leaves; in which a clutch of 3 whitish eggs will be later laid. If disturbed at nest site, it will skulk away on ground squirrel-like in manner, not flying away as do other bird species. This particular fleeing behaviour is so neat so that it can easily fool the observer' s attitude.
Status: An abundantly-occurring resident in Sakaerat forest. Protected legally as a protected wild animal.
