Eyebrowed Wren Babbler Napothera epilepidota
Sub species in India :
- e. guttaticollis – South East Bhutan, North East India (Arunachal Pradesh, East Assam)
- e. roberti – Austen’s Wren-babbler – North East Indian hill states South of River Brahmaputra
Etymology :
- Napothera: Greek Word napos ravine, gully; theras hunter { Hunter in Ravines}
- Epilepidota: Greek Word epi excessively; lepidotos { too scaly}
- Guttaticollis : Latin word guttatus – spotted from gutta meaning drop, spot; collis -throated, -necked {Spot throated}
- Roberti : Robert Owen (1838-1880) English engineer
Vernacular Name: Cachar: Dao-mojo gashim, Dao-pufli kashiba
Distribution in India: Resident of North East Indian hills.
Description: Size of 10–11 cm. It is a small, streaky, virtually tailless babbler with rather long bill and prominent pale supercilium. The nominate race has crown and upperparts rich chocolate-brown with buff shaft streaks, strongest on mantle and back. The upperwing and tail are brownish-black. The upperwing-coverts, tertials and secondaries are with vague buffy tips (wing spots). The lores are blackish, continuing through eye in dark eyestripe, postocular supercilium is whitish, ear-coverts are dark brown with whitish streaks, submoustachial area is dark brown with whitish flecks. The chin and throat are whitish. The breast, belly and upper flanks are dirty ochrous-brown with long whitish streaks, shading on lower flanks, thighs and vent to darker ochrous-brown. The iris is brown to hazel and red. The upper mandible dark horn, lower mandible is paler. The legs are brownish-flesh to horn-brown. Both the sexes are similar. The juvenile is plain brown below, less clearly marked above, wing spots are buff.
The sub species found in India are: guttaticollis is paler brown with little pale streaking above, paler grey-brown below, with more whitish streaking on lower underparts, whitish chin and throat with neat, irregular dark brown cone-shaped flecks; roberti is like previous, but toned buffy rufous above, below and on head side.
Habitat: It is found in broadleaf evergreen forest, secondary forest, damp gallery forest, conifer forest and bamboo. It is found at 300–1800 m in India.
Food habits: It eats Insects, ants , grasshoppers, locusts and crickets, beetles & spiders. It keeps in pairs or family parties, on forest floor and understorey. It hops among fallen leaves, turning them over to locate food, and creeps about in low undergrowth and tangles.
Breeding habits: They breed in Jan–Jun in India. The nest is a dome, semi-dome or cup, made of semi-decayed material. The nest is wedged among boulders, in leaf litter piled against boulder or steep bank, or in grass clump or generally on ground. They lay a clutch of 2–5 eggs. The nestlings are fed by both sexes