Dhakathi Demalichcha Sri - Lanka Scimitar-Babbler (Pomatorhinus melanurus)

Identification
Similar to horsfieldi horsfieldi but with no demarcations between the plumage of the upper parts and the sides of the breast and neck, the latter being of the same ferruginous, brown as the former; the tail is very dark marked with ferruginous at the base. Iris reddish brown to dull red; orbital skin and eyelid dull blue; bill pale to dark yellow, blackish on the base; legs and feet salty or greenish plumber ; feet, generally more bluish than tarsi, claws dusky-horny. Length about 210 to 215 mm.; wing about 86 to 94 mm.; tail about 95 mm.; tarsus about 30 mm.; culmen about 25 to 26 mm.


Behavior
Feeds on insects, grubs and spiders. Takes also flower nectar and berries. Seen in pairs during breeding season, in small groups the rest of the year. Often together with other species. Forages on the ground or in dense undergrowth. Breeding season from December to February in Sri Lanka. The nest is a loose, large domr with an entrance on the upper side. It's placed in a bush or on the ground, concealed in dense masses of foliage. Lays 2 to 5 eggs.

Location
Deciduous to evergreen forest, cardamon shoals, bamboo, tick cover. Locally up to 2400m.These Babblers associate either in pairs or small flocks, haunting any class of thick cover and working both the ground, bushes and the lower branches of trees for food.

Gallery







Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Wali Kukula - The Ceylon Junglefowl (Gallus lafayetii)

Paduwan Bassa - Serendib Scops Owl (Otus thilohoffmanni)

Bada Rathu Wahilihiniya - Ceylon Swallow (Hirundo hyperythra)