Pygmy Cupwing Pnoepyga pusilla Scientific name definitions

7·5–9 cm; 11–15 g. Tiny, almost tailless olive-backed babbler with pale scaling below ; in two morphs. Nominate race pale morph  (“white-scaled”) is greyish olive-brown from crown to rump with slight dark scaling, upperwing browner, small buffy subterminal spots on scapulars, wing-coverts and tertials; head-sides greyish olive-brown, ear-coverts with indistinct pale shaft streaks; chin and throat off-white with narrow grey-brown scaling, breast and belly off-white, each feather with grey-brown chevron-shaped centre and narrow grey-brown margin (producing very scaly effect), flanks olive-brown with buffy-olive scaling; iris dark brown or brown; bill blackish, paler below; legs pale dull brown. Dark morph (“ochre-bellied”) is olive-brown above with ochre drop on each feather, white below replaced by ochre. Differs from very similar P. albiventer in smaller size, unspeckled head. Sexes similar. Juvenile is plain above except for warm buff tips of greater wing-coverts and tertials, plain also below, whitish throat and belly shading to dark greyish on breast and flanks. Race <em>annamensis</em> is slightly darker above than nominate, with buffier head side, and scaling below rather blacker; harterti is like previous, but darker on head side; lepida is more rufescent above, with rusty-buff head side and edges of scaling on breast side and flanks; <em>rufa</em> is like last, but head side darker, scaling on breast side and flanks less rusty; everetti is blackish-brown above, darker than others, below lacks extent of buff suffusion shown by most individuals of previous race, and with heavier, darker centres of feathers on flanks; <em>timorensis</em> is like preceding two but duller and paler, scaly pattern much reduced, head side buffy grey.

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.

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.

Floor and understorey of broadleaf evergreen forest , densely vegetated forest ravines, mossy boulders, fallen logs, dense fern growth, luxuriant moss. Similar habitat on Flores, described as montane forest, Eupatrium scrub and occasionally roadside regrowth and tall secondary forest; on Timor occurs around large rocky outcrops. Main range in Bhutan apparently upper warm broadleaf forest at 1500–2000 m. Generally found at 200–3050 m; in Indian Subcontinent 1000–2850 m, locally to 3050 m, some descending as low as 200 m in winter; 520–2800 m in China; 180–2565 m in SE Asia, breeding above 750 m; 900–3000 m on Sumatra; 1300–3000 m in Java; 900–1900 m on Flores; 1800–2000 m on Timor. Occupies lower elevational range than P. albiventer, in similar habitat.

Ants (Formicidae) and other small insects , spiders (Araneae), snails and grubs. Forages on or close to ground among leaf litter, around rotting tree trunks and among tangled vegetation; occasionally climbs up to 2 m in trees, keeping to thicker moss-covered branches. Heard more often than seen.

Song an unmistakable, very high-pitched, well-spaced, piercing “ti—ti—tu” (c. 4 seconds long), repeated every 3–5 seconds, sometimes with shorter space between last two notes (NW Thailand, W Tonkin); or just “ti—tu” or “tseéét—tsúút” (Himalayas, W Myanmar, S Annam); or sometimes in Indian Subcontinent just a series of falling “tseeeet” notes; in W Java a descending three-note “tseei—tssu—tsu”, repeated after as little as c. 2 seconds; in E Java “tsss-tsip” or “tsiii-zrrip” or “tssi-drrii”, first note rising, second slurred and rising slightly at end (indeed, variation between populations on mountains throughout); on Flores a rising and then falling “tseei… tssu”, with varied gap between notes, repeated after as little as c. 2 seconds; on Timor song a four-note “tsiee…tsu…tsii…tssu” (first note disyllabic with second part rising, next two notes level, fourth descending), lasting c. 4 seconds and repeated every 4–8 seconds. Call a repeated sharp loud sibilant “tchit” or “chit”, very like that of P. albiventer; on Timor also a curious thin rising whistled “tsss’u’u’u’u’u’u’u’u’u’u-ssi-ssi”.

Season Mar–Sept in more N parts of range, with song period mainly mid-Mar to late Apr in Bhutan, but juveniles recorded late Jul and Sept; Nov–Aug in SE Asia, Jul–May on Java and Nov–Dec on Sumatra. Nest , built  by both sexes, either a small ball of moss , rootlets, bark shreds and leaf skeletons, or a built-in structure made of long strands of brilliant green moss, the inner strands compactly and firmly woven to form tiny cup, both well lined with black or other rootlets and fibres; placed in moss, orchids, ferns or creepers hanging down tree trunks, vertical rocks, fallen log, bank by trail or upturned tree roots, usually 0·5–2 m (occasionally to 6 m) above ground. Clutch 2–6 eggs (usually 3–5 in Myanmar, 4–6 in China, two in Peninsular Malaysia and on Java), white, rarely showing one or two faint spots. Recorded on Sumatra performing broken-wing distraction display near nest (3 Janra, M.N. and Noske, R. (2015). Sumatran Pygmy Wren-babbler Pnoepyga pusilla lepida performing broken-wing distraction display near nest. Kukila. 18(2): 62–64. Close ). No other information.

Not globally threatened (Least Concern). Frequent in Nepal. Fairly widespread at low densities in Bhutan. Fairly common in India, where 0·3 birds/km² in semi-evergreen forest in Buxa Tiger Reserve (West Bengal); present also in Eaglenest Wildlife Sanctuary and Mouling National Park and Namdapha National Park (Arunachal Pradesh). Formerly resident in Bangladesh, but no recent records. Rare in Shiwandashan National Nature Reserve (Guangxi), in China; first recorded on Hainan I in 2005, when eight individuals found at two sites. Generally common in SE Asian range. Common in Doi Inthanon National Park, in Thailand. Present in Nakai-Nam Theun National Biodiversity Conservation Area, in Laos. In Vietnam, present in Ba Be National Park (in N), and in Thuong Da Nhim and Chu Yang Sin Nature Reserves (Da Lat Plateau, in S Annam); also in three protected areas in the Annamese Lowlands Endemic Bird Area. Present in Gunung Leuser and Kerinci-Seblat National Parks, on Sumatra, and very common on Mt Kerinci. Common in Gunung Gede-Pangrango National Park, in W Java. Very common on Flores above 1200 m. On Timor known only from Mt Mutis, which has been a nature reserve since 1983; fairly common there.