Explore Taxonomy
Order
Passeriformes
Family
Timaliidae
Genus
Pomatorhinus
Surprise Me
Previous Brown-crowned Scimitar-Babbler
Next Slender-billed Scimitar-Babbler
- Red-billed Scimitar-Babbler
© Vincent Wang
- Red-billed Scimitar-Babbler
- Red-billed Scimitar-Babbler
+2
- Red-billed Scimitar-Babbler
- Red-billed Scimitar-Babbler
- Red-billed Scimitar-Babbler
Watch
- Red-billed Scimitar-Babbler
Listen

Red-billed Scimitar-Babbler Pomatorhinus ochraceiceps Scientific name definitions

Nigel Collar and Craig Robson
Version: 1.0 — Published March 4, 2020
Text last updated January 1, 2007

Sign in to see your badges

Originally Appeared in

HBW Alive

Field Identification

22–24 cm; 33–38 g. Distinctive, with long decurved orange bill. Nominate race has crown and upperparts, upperwing and tail rufescent mid-brown; long supercilium white, lores (including naral feathering) and cheek black, ear-coverts blackish-bronze; chin and submoustachial area to mid-belly white, flanks buffish, becoming greyer lower down and on thighs and vent; iris sandy yellow to dull pinkish-cream; bill orange to orange-red; legs slate-green or yellowish-brown. Distinguished from very similar P. ferruginosus by longer, more decurved, and orange bill. Sexes similar. Juvenile has shorter bill than adult. Race austeni is duller than nominate, more olive-tinged above, wings pale brown, tail mid-brown, underparts off-white, flanks to vent tinged greyer; stenorhynchus is like nominate, but ear-coverts black, breast and belly warm buff; alius is like nominate, but tail darker above.

Systematics History

Editor's Note: This article requires further editing work to merge existing content into the appropriate Subspecies sections. Please bear with us while this update takes place.

Four subspecies recognized.

Subspecies

SUBSPECIES

Pomatorhinus ochraceiceps stenorhynchus Scientific name definitions

Pomatorhinus ochraceiceps stenorhynchus
P. o. stenorhynchus

Distribution

extreme NE India (E Arunachal Pradesh) and extreme N Myanmar.
SUBSPECIES

Pomatorhinus ochraceiceps austeni Scientific name definitions

Distribution

NE India (Meghalaya E to Nagaland and S to Mizoram), SE Bangladesh and N Myanmar.
SUBSPECIES

Pomatorhinus ochraceiceps ochraceiceps Scientific name definitions

Pomatorhinus ochraceiceps ochraceiceps
P. o. ochraceiceps

Distribution

SE Myanmar (including N Tenasserim), NW Thailand, S China (S Yunnan) and N Indochina.
SUBSPECIES

Pomatorhinus ochraceiceps alius Scientific name definitions

Distribution

N Thailand, S Laos and Vietnam (C and S Annam).

Distribution

Editor's Note: Additional distribution information for this taxon can be found in the 'Subspecies' article above. In the future we will develop a range-wide distribution article.

Habitat

Broadleaf evergreen forest, bamboo clumps, in Laos also Fokienia-dominated forest. Found at 300–2400 m in India, usually above 1220 m in China, 230–1800 m in Myanmar, and 600–1600 m in Thailand and Vietnam.

Movement

Resident.

Diet and Foraging

Invertebrates, including snails, caterpillars and beetles (Coleoptera); also nectar and seeds. Keeps in pairs or parties of up to six or so individuals, often associating with Gampsorhynchus babblers and bird waves. Forages in understorey to middle storey; more arboreal than congeners, sometimes up to 12 m above ground. Also forages on ground, and probes into flowers of forest trees for nectar.

Sounds and Vocal Behavior

Highly vocal; groups give variety of mellow and harsh notes. Song a hurried staccato hollow piping “wu-wu-wu”, “wu-wu-woi”, “wu-wu-whip”, “pu-pu” or “kóydu-dip!”, and the like, sometimes answered (perhaps by female) with thin nasal downslurred “wyee” or “kveeer”; also, very rapid “wi-wuwu” and loud whistled “u-wip”, repeated after pauses. When alarmed, gives short repeated bursts of harsh scratchy guttural rattles, e.g. “whi-chutututut”, “whi-trrrrrt whi-trrrrrt”, “tchrrrtututut tchrrrt…”; variable sounds (often combined) when excited, include rapid purring “wrrrrrp”, clear “wuhu-wuhu”, nasal “woiee-woiee”, weak “whiu-whiu”, high “wheep”, harsh, dry short rising “whéesh!”, high rising “whi”, and steeply descending, buzzy nasal complaining “nyáóh”, often interspersed with dry buzzy rising rattles.

Breeding

Mar–Jul. Nest an oval ball made of broad grass blades, bamboo leaves and a few other dead leaves, loosely put together, lined with finer materials and rootlets, placed on ground, nearly covered by fallen leaves, or low down in undergrowth or creepers. Clutch 3–5 eggs, white. No other information.

Conservation Status

Conservation status on Birdlife LC Least Concern
Not globally threatened. Uncommon in NE hills in India; fairly common in Namdapha National Park (Arunachal Pradesh). Evidently very localized and rare in Bangladesh. Uncommon in China. Generally uncommon in SE Asian range. Uncommon in Nam Nao National Park, in Thailand. Common in Nam Kading and Dong Hua Sao National Biodiversity Conservation Areas (NBCAs) and in Nakai-Nam Theun NBCA, in Laos. In Vietnam, present in Na Hang Nature Reserve and common in Tam Dao National Park (in N), Thuong Da Nhim and Chu Yang Sin Nature Reserves (Da Lat Plateau, in S Annam), and Pu Mat and Vu Quang Nature Reserves in the Annamese Lowlands Endemic Bird Area.
Distribution of the Red-billed Scimitar-Babbler - Range Map
Enlarge
  • Year-round
  • Migration
  • Breeding
  • Non-Breeding
Distribution of the Red-billed Scimitar-Babbler

eBird and Macaulay Library

Recommended Citation

Collar, N. and C. Robson (2020). Red-billed Scimitar-Babbler (Pomatorhinus ochraceiceps), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.rbsbab1.01
Birds of the World

Partnerships

A global alliance of nature organizations working to document the natural history of all bird species at an unprecedented scale.

American Ornithological Society American Ornithilogical Society Armonia Bolivia Aves Argentinas Avibase Aves Uruguay Birds Caribbean Bird Count India Conservación de Islas Corbidi Fundación Ñankulafkén Instituto Humboldt Lynx Edicions Oikonos Oriental Bird Club Ornithological Society Of The Middle East The Caucasus And Central Asia RED DE OBSERVADORES DE AVES Y VIDA SILVESTRE DE CHILE Roberts Birds Save Brasil Taiwan Biodiversity Research Institute Union Venezolana De Ornitologos