Large Gray Babbler Argya malcolmi Scientific name definitions

27–28 cm; 63–92 g. Large, long-tailed , rather plain greyish Turdoides babbler with paler rump and outer tail, creamy grey below. Forecrown is pale grey with short white shaft streaks, mid-crown to nape buffy grey with scattered grey-brown flecks, mantle and back brownish-grey with soft-edged darker grey-brown blotches, rump and uppertail-coverts whitish-grey; upperwing dark grey with successively paler tertials, tail pale brownish-grey with faint narrow barring; lores dusky, ear-coverts buffy grey with pale buff streaks; submoustachial area and chin to breast pinkish grey-buff, shading to pale yellowish-buff on belly to vent; total albino reported; iris lemon-yellow ; bill horn-brown, paler base of lower mandible; legs brownish-grey. Sexes similar. Juvenile is paler overall than adult, with less grey on forecrown and no blotching on mantle.

NE Pakistan (Punjab) E to N India (W Bihar), and S through peninsula to Gujarat in W and Tamil Nadu in E; also extreme SW Nepal.

Mostly insects; also grain, seeds and berries, and occasionally ripening millet in standing fields and sugary exudate from sorghum leaves. Very gregarious, usually in parties of 5–12, often 20 and up to 60 individuals, even during breeding season (though nesting adults separate into pairs). Forages on ground and among low vegetation. Frequently associates with T. striata.

Noisy. Calls are very nasal, buzzy, insistent bleats, “nyárrr-nyárrr-nyár-…”, or monotonous, plaintive, drawling “kay-kay-kay-kay”, flatter and less squeaky than that of Turdoides striata, mostly downslurred but with various inflections and note quality; choruses by flocks reach crescendo, then die away gradually. Single individuals may give long, angry crescendoing series of upslurred buzzy nasal notes. Noisy chattering when alarmed.

All months (mostly Mar–Oct) in India, with spring and autumn peaks in Delhi region, at least; multi-brooded. Co-operative breeding recorded, and may be the norm. Nest, built often with assistance of 1–2 helpers, a rather loose but neat cup, made of grasses, grass roots, small twigs and roots, unlined or with slight lining of fine rootlets, fine grasses and horsehair, placed 1·2–3 m (sometimes up to 9·1 m) above ground in bush or small tree. Clutch 3–8 eggs (usually 4), greenish-blue; more than one female may lay in one nest; one or two helpers may assist with incubation and chick-feeding, nestlings fed also by both parents; no information on duration of incubation and nestling periods. Brood parasitism by Jacobin Cuckoo (Clamator jacobinus) reported; two fledglings of the cuckoo said to be frequently observed with flocks of present species.