Large Grey Babbler

The large grey babbler is one of the largest babblers in the region, locally common in scrub, open forest and garden land across India and far western Nepal, south of the Himalaya and east of the Thar desert until Bihar. It is not found in Kerala, and records from the Sind area are not confirmed. It is a long-tailed, brown-bodied bird easily distinguished from other babblers by its nasal call and the creamy-white outer tail feathers that show as it flies low over the ground with fluttery wingbeats (Wikipedia, general species account).

It is found in small flocks that keep in contact with loud nasal calls, hopping and leaping on the ground in open scrub, and individuals in a group may play. It feeds mainly on insects but also small lizards, molluscs, arachnids, seeds, grains and berries. The usual clutch is four eggs, and it has been suggested, though not verified, that more than one female may lay in a single nest. SoIB 2023 treats it as endemic to the Indian subcontinent and rates it a Low conservation priority, with a Very Large range of about 1.32 million km² and a stable current trend (Wikipedia, general species account; SoIB 2023).