 Grey-crowned Babbler Pomatostomus temporalis
Length 23–26.5 cm; wingspan 35 cm; weight 65 g.
Gregarious, noisy and active, the Grey-crowned Babbler usually lives and forages in groups of 4–12 birds which are often first detected by their loud harsh or whistled calls. Though usually terrestrial, they also occasionally feed in shrubs and the lower levels of trees, tending to be more arboreal than other babblers. When flying from one tree or shrub to another they fly low to the ground on short, rounded wings, one bird usually following another; the flight typically consists of a series of slow, descending glides, alternating with short bursts of rapid shallow wing-beats to regain some lost height before the next glide commences. When travelling over longer distances, Babblers usually fly between trees or shrubs, hopping to the top of each plant after landing, before flying on to the next one. The species’ gait when on the ground consists of a series of bouncing hops, with the tail partly cocked and often partly spread.
HABITAT
Grey-crowned Babblers mainly inhabit open forests and woodlands, especially on the inland plains. Suitable habitat for the species has five critical elements: (1) woodland or open forest on fertile or heavy soils; (2) more trees than at sites not supporting Babblers; (3) many large, mature eucalypts with a trunk measuring >90 cm diameter at breast-height (dbh), or cypress pines with dbh of 60 cm; (4) understorey of saplings and shrubs with dbh of 10–30 cm, used for nesting and sheltering; and (5) a sparse ground layer with much litter and little grass cover. Babblers are absent from sites where any of these elements are missing, and quickly disappear if any of these elements are removed.
In eastern Australia, the species usually inhabits dry open eucalypt forests and woodlands, especially those dominated by ironbarks or Spotted Gum, or in open mixed associations of eucalypts (such as as Bimble Box), cypress-pine and Belah, or in partly cleared eucalyptus woodlands. The species is also often recorded in acacia woodland (e.g. Mulga or Brigalow), and in coastal New South Wales, they also occur around thickets of paperbarks. In semi-arid areas, the species often occurs in acacia (especially Mulga) shrublands and woodlands and eucalypt forests and woodlands (sometimes with an understorey of acacias and paperbarks), usually where this vegetation is taller and lusher than in surrounding habitats, especially along watercourses. Further south, in Victoria, Grey-crowned Babblers occur in dry woodlands of Grey Box, Black Box, Yellow Box, Mugga, Yellow Gum, cypress-pine (e.g. Slender Cypress-pine) and Buloke; they also occur in open River Red Gum forest and woodland. They are also occasionally recorded at the edge of heathy stringybark forest. On the Mornington Peninsula in southern Victoria, the species was historically closely associated with grassy woodland dominated by, Manna Gum, Narrow-leaved Peppermint and Snow Gum with a scattered understorey of smaller trees, including sheoaks (Drooping Sheoak, Black Sheoak), Cherry Ballart, Silver Banksia, and acacias (Late Black Wattle and Blackwood). However, after much of this habitat was modified, probably causing the decline in the local Babbler population, they were recorded only in small isolated remnant populations in modified habitats such as golf courses, remnant roadside strips of native vegetation, remnant woodland or fringes of woodland on farmland, parks and residential areas. In South Australia, Grey-crowned Babblers occur in eucalypt woodland dominated by Manna Gum, Brown Stringybark and Yellow Gum, sometimes with banksias, and sometimes with an understorey of Cherry Ballart and heathy shrubs.
DISTRIBUTION
The species is widespread in north-western, northern, central and eastern Australia. Elsewhere, the species also occurs in the Trans-Fly region and Western Province of southern New Guinea, and in West Papua.
STATUS
- Vulnerable in New South Wales
- Endangered in Victoria
- Endangered in South Australia
THREATS
Throughout their range, the main cause of the decline of Grey-crowned Babblers is the fragmentation of their habitat following widespread clearance. Formerly suitable habitats are now highly fragmented, and isolated remnants (>300 metres from other remnant patches) are less likely to be inhabited than sites connected to one another. Populations in Victoria have declined over the past 30 or 40 years as a result of the loss of breeding and feeding habitat, mainly through clearance of Buloke and White Cypress-pine for the establishment of cereal crops. Declines in populations are also the result of degradation of suitable habitats. In south-eastern Australia, several processes of degradation have been identified: burning for fuel reduction, removal of fallen timber, dieback of trees, grazing by stock, and invasion of introduced pasture grass and other weeds. Many of these degrading processes simplify the structure of the habitats, including the loss of the shrub layer, a decreased accumulation of leaf litter or an increased ground cover, which adversely affect the species. Where remnant strips of roadside vegetation are narrow, they are vulnerable to fire, attack by insects, altered water regimes and invasion by weeds, all of which adversely affect populations of Babblers. The species is sometimes killed by cats, which may be responsible for significant declines in local populations in some areas; the presence of foxes or feral pigs also adversely affects Babblers.
MOVEMENTS
Sedentary
DOWNLOADS
Grey-crowned Babbler Newsletter July 2010
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