Abbott's Babbler

Abbott's babbler is a nondescript, brown, short-tailed, stout babbler 12–13 cm long, with a head of 39–44 mm and a tail of 55–61 mm. It forages in pairs in dense undergrowth close to the ground, often near streams and in the vicinity of tree ferns and tangled vegetation, and its presence is usually indicated by its distinctive calls. It is widely distributed along the Himalaya in South Asia and into the forests of Southeast Asia, is also resident in east and south Bangladesh, and the subspecies krishnarajui of the Eastern Ghats in north-east Andhra Pradesh and Odisha has a darker russet tail and rump than the Himalayan nominate (Wikipedia, general species account).

It occurs up to 600 m, and 275 m in Nepal. It breeds from April to July, in a carefully placed but bulky cup nest low in palms or other undergrowth; a study in Thailand found most nests in spiny palms and rattans. When disturbed at the nest the birds slip over the edge, fly with laboured wingbeats and then hop out of sight. The usual clutch is three to five eggs. SoIB 2023 rates it a Low conservation priority, a resident forest bird with a Moderate range of about 55,600 km² (Wikipedia, general species account; SoIB 2023).