Streak-breasted Scimitar-Babbler

• Its scimitar-curved bill gives it its name in several languages and lets it probe the cracks in bamboo stems and under bark, a niche few birds of its size exploit.
• It moves in noisy family groups that keep in constant contact with calls and duets: male and female alternate notes with such precision that they sound like a single bird.
• It is a regular member of the mixed understorey flocks of the Himalayas, in which dozens of species move through the forest together.

Skeleton type

Vertebrate - internal bony skeleton (bird)

Habitat and environment

Dense understorey, bamboo stands and montane scrub of the eastern Himalayas and southern China

Birth weight

Altricial: born blind, naked or with sparse down and entirely dependent

Size at birth

Altricial: born blind, naked or with sparse down and entirely dependent

Sexual maturity

12 months

Gestation / incubation

15 days of incubation

Litter / clutch size

4 eggs

Sources consulted: Wikipedia (es): Pomatorhinus ruficollis

Best time: All year round in the understorey of Himalayan and southern Chinese forests, by day; it is far easier to hear than to see.