The flame-templed babbler (Dasycrotapha speciosa) is a species of bird of the family Zosteropidae, in the genus Dasycrotapha.[2] It is one of the most remarkable and distinctive birds with its complex head markings with orange crown tufts, black ears and yellow beak and face.[3] It is endemic to the Philippines, where it is found on the islands of Panay and Negros. Its natural habitat is tropical moist lowland forest. It is threatened by habitat loss.[1] Along with the Negros striped babbler, it is one of the two babbler species extremely sought after by birdwatchers on Negros.
| Flame-templed babbler | |
|---|---|
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| A Flame-templed babbler on Negros Island | |
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| An illustration of a Flame-templed Babbler by Joseph Smit | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Family: | Zosteropidae |
| Genus: | Dasycrotapha |
| Species: | D. speciosa
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| Binomial name | |
| Dasycrotapha speciosa Tweeddale, 1878
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| Synonyms | |
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Stachyris speciosa (Tweeddale, 1878) | |
Description
editEBird describes the bird as "A small bird. Has a gray back with fine pale streaks, golden flight feathers, a yellowish belly, a brighter yellow chest extending around the collar, a black head with black spots on the upper chest, and a yellow bill, forehead, chin, and short moustache stripe. Note the white-streaked cheek and the orange tufts on the back of the head. Often joins mixed-species flocks, where it methodically forages in the understory and at middle heights in the forest. Unmistakable. Song is a descending whistled warble."[4]
Ecology and behavior
editThe flame-templed babbler is an omnivore feeding on small insects and berries, flowers and figs. These babblers feed and breed in understory bushes, trees, vines and ferns.[5] Forms mixed flocks with other small birds such as the Visayan fantail, Philippine tailorbird, Lemon-throated leaf warbler, White-vented whistler and Visayan bulbul.
It seems to breed almost year round but territorial behaviour most apparent in the months of March to April. [6]
Habitat and conservation status
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The flame-templed babbler inhabits lowland forest, forest edge and secondary growth below 1,000 m, occasionally occurring up to 1,180 m. Highest densities have been recorded in the thick undergrowth of degraded secondary forest and observations come from the lower strata (up to 8 m) in the understory, where birds stay in deep cover and are consequently unobtrusive unless singing.[3]
IUCN has assessed this bird as endangered estimating the population to be just 2,500 - 9,999 mature individuals. In areas where habitat is still good, they occur in high densities of more than 20 birds per square kilometer; however, overall remaining habitat is greatly reduced. It was only fairly recently discovered in Panay in 1987 and is only found in five localities.[7]
This species' main threat is habitat loss with wholesale clearance of forest habitats as a result of logging, agricultural conversion and mining activities occurring within the range. Negros Island is one of the most deforested areas in the country due to its sugar industry and logging with most of its forests being totally lost before the 21st century. Forest cover on Negros and Panay is just 3% and 6% respectively and these figures are still declining.
It occurs in a few protected areas within Mt. Kanlaon Natural Park and Northern Negros Natural Park; however, protection and enforcement against deforestation is lax. It also occurs in the proposed Central Panay Mountain Range Park which contains the largest block of remaining forest in the Western Visayas, and the tourist destination of Twin Lakes (Mount Talinis). Both sites benefit from conservation funding but are still under threat by deforestation.[7]
References
edit- ^ a b BirdLife International (2017). "Dasycrotapha speciosa". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2017: e.T22716210A110098710. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-1.RLTS.T22716210A110098710.en. Retrieved 11 November 2021.
- ^ Thomas M. Brooks; John D. Pilgrim; Ana S. L. Rodrigues & Gustavo A. B. Da Fonseca (2005). "Conservation status and geographic distribution of avian evolutionary history". In Andy Purvis; John L. Gittleman & Thomas Brooks (eds.). Phylogeny and Conservation. Conservation Biology. Vol. 8. Cambridge University Press. pp. 267–294. ISBN 978-0-521-82502-3.
- ^ a b Allen, Desmond (2020). Birds of the Philippines. Barcelona: Lynx and Birdlife Guides International. pp. 298–299.
- ^ "Flame-templed Babbler". Ebird. Retrieved 6 September 2021.
- ^ "Negros bird babblers' conservation pushed". The Manila Times. 2017-09-19. Retrieved 2021-09-15.
- ^ Collar, Nigel; Robson, Craig (2020). "Flame-templed Babbler (Dasycrotapha speciosa), version 1.0". Birds of the World. doi:10.2173/bow.fltbab1.01species_shared.bow.project_name. ISSN 2771-3105.
- ^ a b "Flame-templed Babbler (Dasycrotapha speciosa) - BirdLife species factsheet". datazone.birdlife.org. Retrieved 2021-09-15.
Further reading
edit- Collar, N. J. & Robson, C. 2007. Family Timaliidae (Babblers) pp. 70 – 291 in; del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A. & Christie, D.A. eds. Handbook of the Birds of the World, Vol. 12. Picathartes to Tits and Chickadees. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona.
