Pellorneidae

The jungle babblers are a family, Pellorneidae, of mostly Old World passerine birds belonging to the superfamily Sylvioidea. They are quite diverse in size and coloration, and usually characterised by soft, fluffy plumage and a tail on average the length of their body, or longer. These birds are found in tropical zones, with the greatest biodiversity in Southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent. Morphological diversity is rather high; most species resemble warblers, jays or thrushes, making field identification difficult. The family Pellorneidae was first introduced by the French-American ornithologist Jean Théodore Delacour in 1946. Pellorneidae used to be one of four subfamilies of Timaliidae (tree- and scimitar-babblers), but was then elevated to its own family rank in 2011 based on molecular markers. Jungle babblers are small to medium-sized birds which are on average 14 cm long and weigh around 30g, but range from 10–26 cm, and 12-36g Divided between being terrestrial and arboreal, Pellorneidae have strong legs. They usually have generalised bills, similar to those of a thrush or warbler, with the exception of the long-billed wren-babbler (Napothera malacoptila) and both species of scimitar babbler from the Jabouilleia genus which have long, curved bills. Most jungle babblers have predominantly brown plumage with little sexual dimorphism, but brightly coloured species of this family also exist. Many jungle babblers have distinctive 'eyebrows' and 'caps' which may help to differentiate them from similarly-sized and coloured species. This group is not strongly migratory, and most species have short rounded wings, and weak flight. They live in lightly wooded, scrubland, or jungle environments, ranging from swamp to near-desert. They are primarily insectivorous, although many will also take berries, and the larger, omnivorous species will even eat small lizards and other vertebrates. Jungle babblers are generally non-migratory, social birds, defined by their lack of seasonal plumage and unspotted juvenile plumage.