Chestnut-capped babbler

The chestnut-capped babbler (Timalia pileata) is a passerine bird of the family Timaliidae and the only species in the genus Timalia. It is divided into six subspecies that range from the lower Himalayas of Uttarakhand, Nepal, Bangladesh and Bhutan through Myanmar, southern China and Thailand to southern Indochina, with the nominate form isolated on Java and Bali about 1,800 km from the mainland populations. It is a medium-sized babbler, 15.5 to 17 cm long, with a fairly long wedge-shaped tail, a thick black bill and unbarred brown plumage, and is recognised by its chestnut crown, black eye mask, white forehead and white eyebrow line. The sexes look alike, except that males are slightly larger and have a ruby-red iris while females have a black iris. It lives in tall grass, reed beds and shrublands and feeds on butterfly larvae, beetles and other insects. The population is thought to be declining through habitat destruction and fragmentation, but the species is listed as Least Concern by the IUCN.