White-chested Babbler

Scientific Name: Pellorneum rostratum
Malay Name: Kekicau-Telunjuk Dada Putih
Chinese Name: 白胸雅鹛

Range:
Found from the Thai-Malay Peninsula to Sumatra and Borneo.

Taxonomy:
Polytypic. Subspecies are: rostratum, macropterum.

Local Subspecies: rostratum

Size: 15-16.5 cm

Identification:
Adult has narrow bill, cold brown upperparts and clean white underparts with grey-washed breast-side. Juvenile looks similar to adult.

Habitat: Forest, swamp forest and mangroves.

Behaviour/Ecology: Feeds on small invertebrates taken from the forest floor, mainly in wet areas.

Local Status: Rare resident

Conservation Status: Near Threatened (BirdLife International 2016)

Past accepted records in our database: Showing the most recent 10 records. See more on our database page.

Past records, bar chart (see more bar charts):

Photos:

White-chested Babbler from Panti Bird Sanctuary. Photo credit: Con Foley

White-chested Babbler from Panti Bird Sanctuary. Photo credit: Con Foley

White-chested Babbler from Panti Bird Sanctuary. Photo credit: Alan Ng

White-chested Babbler from Panti Bird Sanctuary. Photo credit: Chris Li

White-chested Babbler from Panti Bird Sanctuary. Photo credit: Chris Li

Screen capture of a White-chested Babbler from a video at Pulau Tekong. Photo Credit: Albert Low

External Links:
Conservation Status: IUCN Red List Page
Photos: Oriental Bird Images
Sound Recordings: xeno-canto Link
Wikipedia Entry: Wikipedia Link
eBird Species page: eBird (White-chested Babbler)

References:
BirdLife International. (2016). Trichastoma rostratum. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016. Downloaded on 2 September 2021

Robson, C. (2014). Field guide to the birds of South-East Asia (Second Edition). Bloomsbury Publishing, London.

Wells, D. R. (1999). The Birds of the Thai-Malay Peninsula (Vol. 1). Academic Press, London.