Bar-winged Wren Babbler    Spelaeornis troglodytoides

Etymology :

• Spelaeornis: Greek word spelaion- cave; ornis – bird { Cave dwelling bird}
• Troglodytoides: Troglodytes- Cave dweller; oides- Resembling {Like cave dweller}

Distribution in India: Resident of Eastern Himalayas in India.

Description:  Size of 10 cm. It is a long-tailed, rufous-brown wren-babbler with white-spotted blackish head, white breast, barred wings and tail. The male of nominate race has crown and nape blackish, tinged rufous and heavily spotted in white, lores, cheek and ear-coverts are deep orange-buff; upperparts umber-brown, each feather marked with white sub-terminal bar and black tip creating heavy spotting effect. The upperwing and tail are narrowly barred whitish and black; throat is white, underparts are dull rufous, white streaks extending from throat to breast. The iris is red-ocher to brown; bill is brown or blackish-horn, paler lower mandible; legs are horn-brown or olive. The female has more rufous-streaked throat, more extensive and brighter rufous below. The juvenile is much darker than adult, blackish-brown above, with reddish-buff streaks on crown and bars on back, barring on wings and tail are less coherent, more vermiculite.

Habitat : It is found in dense undergrowth and bamboo thickets in moist cool temperate forest, including deciduous, rhododendron, oak, mixed hemlock-broad leaf and fir forest. It is found at 2300–3500 m in Indian Subcontinent,

Food Habits:  It eats Insects, including beetles. It forages in small groups. It is more arboreal than most wren-babblers, clambering about on bamboo stems and mossy tree trunks.

Breeding Habits: They breed in Mar–Jun in India. The nest is built in natural shallow cavity or deep holes in the ground. The nest is made of dry twigs and leaves, the middle layer was built by crumpled leaves, and the inmost layer was composed of thin and soft plant fiber. Both Male and female construct the nest. They lay a clutch of 2-3 eggs. Both the parents incubate and feed the young. The incubation period is 10-11 days. The fledgling period is 9-11 days and the young are dependent on the parents for a week after leaving the nest.