Babblers (Timaliidae)

Buff-breasted Babbler (Pellorneum tickelli) - HBW 12, p. 193

French: Akalat de Tickell German: Rostbrust-Erdtimalie Spanish: Tordina de Tickell
Other common names: Tickell’s Babbler, Buff-breasted Jungle Babbler, Mountain Brown Babbler

Taxonomy: Pellornium [sic] Tickelli Blyth, 1859, “Woods of Teewap’hado”, 1100 to 1500 feet [c.35-460 m], Amherst District, Tenasserim, Myanmar.
Formerly placed in genus Trichastoma. Has been thought possibly to form a superspecies with P. pyrrogenys, presumably including P. buettikoferi. Previously considered conspecific with latter. Proposed race garoense (from Meghalaya and Manipur, and adjacent areas in NE India) may be worthy of recognition. Five subspecies currently recognized.

Subspecies and Distribution:

  • assamense (Sharpe, 1883) - NE India (Arunachal Pradesh, E & S Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur), E Bangladesh and N & W Myanmar.
  • grisescens (Ticehurst, 1932) - SW Myanmar (W of R Irrawaddy).
  • fulvum (Walden, 1875) - S China (SW to SE Yunnan, W Guangxi), SE Myanmar, NW & N Thailand, N & C Laos and N Vietnam (Tonkin, N Annam).

     See all 5 subspecies
  • assamense (Sharpe, 1883) - NE India (Arunachal Pradesh, E & S Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur), E Bangladesh and N & W Myanmar.
  • grisescens (Ticehurst, 1932) - SW Myanmar (W of R Irrawaddy).
  • fulvum (Walden, 1875) - S China (SW to SE Yunnan, W Guangxi), SE Myanmar, NW & N Thailand, N & C Laos and N Vietnam (Tonkin, N Annam).
  • annamense (Delacour, 1926) - N & E Cambodia, S Laos and C & S Vietnam (C & S Annam, Cochinchina).
  • tickelli Blyth, 1859 - S Myanmar (Tenasserim), W & S Thailand and Peninsular Malaysia.