Rufous Babbler

The rufous babbler is a large, dark, long-tailed babbler endemic to the Western Ghats, 25–26 cm long, usually seen foraging in noisy groups along open hillsides with a mixture of grass, bracken and forest. It is dark olive-brown above with a grey forehead whose feathers have black shafts, a pale white to yellow iris and dark lores. It is found south of Mahabaleshwar to the Palni hills and east into the Shevaroy hills; the nominate form is north of the Palghat Gap and hyperythra to the south is said to be more richly coloured (Wikipedia, general species account).

It is found mainly close to the ground, feeding on insects and berries but also using trees. The breeding season is mainly February to November, in a small cup nest in the fork of a tree, with two to four, usually three, dark glossy blue eggs. It has a loud ringing treenh-treenh call. SoIB 2023 treats it as a Western Ghats endemic and rates it a Moderate conservation priority, with a Moderate range of about 108,000 km² and a decline of about 50% over the long term (Wikipedia, general species account; SoIB 2023).