Home Log Out
Birdpedia - Australia         | Home | Birds | Calendar | Reserves | Field Trips | Sightings | Reports | Contacts | [HBW - BirdLife (v3)] 26/04/2024 07:11:11 PM
Species Database
Find
Quick Links
News
 
Species Details [Taxonomy: HBW - BirdLife (v3)] Print... Email... 

 LC    White-browed Babbler* Id (Atlas): 445
    Pomatostomus superciliosus Endemic

Description (10)
Image of White-browed Babbler
 

Other Names (World)
White-browed Babbler, Happy family, Hopping Dick, Hopping Jenny, Kangaroo Bird, Stick-bird, Twelve Apostles, Apostlebird, Yahoo, Cackler, Catbird, Go-aways, Jumper, Chatterer, White-eyebrowed Babbler, White-eyebrowed Chatterer, White-browed Chatterer

Family
Pomatostomidae (Australasian Babblers)

Size
18 - 21 cm

First Described (Guide)
(Vigors & Horsfield, 1827)

Derivation
Pö'-mat-o-stom'-us - Gk, poma (pomatos), lid; Gk, stoma, mouth: su-per-cil-i-ös'-us - L., browed

Abundance (Guide)
MC - LC

Common. Sedentary.

Habitat
Dry sclerophyll woodlands, shrublands and open forests, usually with tall or dense understorey, often with a ground cover of spinifex.

Range (Guide)
Australia (B).

Image of Range of White-browed Babbler
 
Inland areas of southern Western Australia, through central Australia to South Australia, southern Queensland, western New South Wales and central Victoria.
 
Rarity Status
Currently this species is not classified as a rarity in this country OR information has not been updated.

Population
Estimated population is unknown (2010).

Status LC
Secure.

For more information see BirdLife International Species Factsheet.

Habits
In pairs, or more often in small, noisy, active groups of about fifteen.

Food
Mainly insects but also seeds and fruit.

Voice
Varied nasal, squeaky and wheezy chatterings, cluckings and miaows, 'squarrk-squarraik, wheeit-wheeit, chur-r-r-r'. Clucking, 'tchuk' uttered in contact. Alarm whistles.



Xeno-Canto Sound Files (more (43)...)

 
White-browed Babbler (Pomatostomus superciliosus) [XC715159]
     by Khristos Nizamis from Gluepot, South Australia, Australia (call, song)

 
White-browed Babbler (Pomatostomus superciliosus) [XC383168]
     by Khristos Nizamis from Tomingley Rd, Dryandra Woodland, Western Australia, Australia (call)

Breeding Season (Guide)
June - November.

J F M A M J J A S O N D
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   


Nest
Bulky, dome-shaped, with a side entrance, composed of twigs, lined with grass, wool or other soft materials, placed in a tree, from about 3 - 7 or 8 m above the ground.

Eggs (Guide)
2 or 3, sometimes 5; glossy, brown-grey with hair-lines of dark brown; oval; about 24 x 17 mm. Incubation: about 16 days; by female.

Young
Altricial, nidicolous. Fledge in about 16 - 19 days. Fed by both parents and helpers.

Subspecies
Birds from Gascoyne valley (western Western Australia) sometimes separated as gwendolenae, but appears indistinguishable from nominate and ashbyi.

The following 4 subspecies are recognised:

  • superciliosus (Vigors & Horsfield, 1827)   -  Southern-central to central-western Australia, from western Murray - Darling Basin, New South Wales, south to western Vic., west through Flinders Ranges and Olary Spur, SA, Greate Victoria Desert, and entire southern coast to Hopetoun - Ravensthorpe, southern WA, and Shark Bay - Geraldton - Pilbara in central-western WA.
  • ashbyi Mathews, 1911   -  South-western WA, from Albany - Bremer Bay, west and north to Darling Range and Northham.
  • gilgandra (Mathews, 1912)   -  Inland south-eastern Australia from south-eastern Qld and central and eastern Murray - Darling Basin, south to central Vic., and west to central Murray - Darling Basin and east to the slopes of the Great Divide.
  • centralis Schodde & Mason, IJ, 1999   -  Centralian ranges, NT, east to Simpson Desert, NT - SA, south to the Great Victoria Desert, SA - WA, and west to Gibson Desert, WA.


Similar Species
Hall's Babbler (Pomatostomus halli) which is generally darker and has a broader supercillium.

Compare Images


References
See References.

The Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Pizzey, G., and Knight, E., 1997, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 19691 5
Field Guide to Australian Birds Morecombe, M., 2000, Steve Parish Publishing Pty Ltd. ISBN 1 876282 10 X
Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Simpson, K., and Day, N., 1999, 6th Edition, Viking ISBN 0 670 87918 5
Reader's Digest Complete Book of Australian Birds 1988, 2nd Edition, Reader's Digest ISBN 0 949819 99 9
What Bird is That? 1984, Revised Edition, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 14846 5
Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds 1990 - , Oxford University Press, Melbourne ISBN 0 19 553244 9


Files:
JPG files for White-browed Babbler (Pomatostomus superciliosus) - 10 filesMP3 files for White-browed Babbler (Pomatostomus superciliosus) - 1 files


More Information

BirdLife International

For more information about the White-browed Babbler see... Show Articles BirdLife International Species Factsheet.


Articles about the White-browed Babbler

If you would like to read any articles about the White-browed Babbler... Show Articles Show Articles (0)


No Pictures of White-browed Babbler

If Birdpedia has no pictures of White-browed Babbler or you would like to see more, then try the following...

      Show External Images from BING From BING (10)


No Videos of White-browed Babbler

If Birdpedia has no videos of White-browed Babbler or you would like to see more, then try the following..

      Show External Videos From BING (0)


Where can I observe this species?
Select an area (or leave blank) to see locations where this species has been recorded.

Area
  All   

Optional: Complete the following if you wish to restrict the reserve to within a given distance of a location.

Please enter the Latitude and Longitiude of a given location together with the maximum distance (km) to display a list of reserves within that distance. You must enter a Latitude, a Longitude and a distance greater than 0.
 
Latitude: (Decimal degrees takes precedence)
Deg Min Sec     Decimal degrees (Include compass setting or value)
         or   GPS help
Longitude: (Decimal degrees takes precedence)
Deg Min Sec     Decimal degrees (Include compass setting or value)
         or   Find GPS using Google Maps
Distance Bearing  
Get Sample GPS readings


On What Field Trips was this species observed?
Select an area (or leave blank), and a date range, to see field trips on which this species has been recorded.

Area
  All   

From To  
 

Optional: Complete the following if you wish to restrict the reserve to within a given distance of a location.

Please enter the Latitude and Longitiude of a given location together with the maximum distance (km) to display a list of reserves within that distance. You must enter a Latitude, a Longitude and a distance greater than 0.
 
Latitude: (Decimal degrees takes precedence)
Deg Min Sec     Decimal degrees (Include compass setting or value)
         or   GPS help
Longitude: (Decimal degrees takes precedence)
Deg Min Sec     Decimal degrees (Include compass setting or value)
         or
Distance Bearing  
Get Sample GPS readings


Latest Sightings for White-browed Babbler
Select the Area to restrict the Sightings.

Area
  All