Nepal Fulvetta Alcippe nipalensis
Etymology:
- Alcippe : Greek Mythology -Alcippe, daughter of Aries the god of war.
- Nipalensis : From Nepal
- Stanfordi : Lt.-Col. John Keith Stanford (1892-1971) British Army,
Vernacular Names : Cachar: Dao-pere-kashiba
Distribution in India: Central & Eastern Himalayas, Hills of North East India.
- Nominate – Nepal to Bhutan and North East India (Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Nagaland, Manipur)
- A.n. stanfordi – North East India (Mizoram)
Description: Size 12·5–13 cm; weight of 13–18 g. The nominate race has pale brown-tinged grey crown to upper back, shading to pale warm brown on rest of upperparts, upperwing and tail, with soft-edged but broad blackish-brown lateral crown stripes extending to mantle. The lores are whitish; the supercilium, ear-coverts, cheek and submoustachial area and neck side are pale, brown-tinged grey (slightly paler than crown). The chin is whitish, shading to buffish-white on breast and to greyish-buff on flanks and thighs, whitish from mid-breast to mid-belly. The iris is brown, has a white eyering; bill is dark horn, pale base of lower mandible; legs are pinkish-brown. Both the sexes are similar. The juvenile has upperparts, flanks and vent warmer-tinged than adult.
Race stanfordi is paler and colder-tinged than nominate, with greyer crown and nape, slightly less distinct lateral crownstripes.
Habitat: It is found in broadleaf evergreen forest, moist deciduous forest, forest edge, secondary growth, and bamboo. It is found at 300–2100 m in India (foothills to highest summits in Assam).
Food habits: It eats Insects, nectar and berries. Berries form a large part of diet in Sept–Feb non-breeding period. Outside breeding season, it is found in restless flocks of up to 20 individuals, usually joining mixed flocks, which may include other small babblers. It forages mostly in undergrowth and crowns of lower trees, occasionally on ground. The flocks move very quickly.
Breeding habits: They breed in Mar–Jul. The nest is built by both sexes. The nest is a neat and compact deep cup, rarely loosely woven and semi-transparent, made of dead bamboo or other leaves, fine grasses, fern fronds, fine fern roots, moss roots, fine black roots, bark fibre and tattered palm bark, sometimes plastered with spider web, lined with moss roots, rootlets, fine black roots, and black and dark brown fibres, placed above ground in bush, bamboo clump, rattan or underbrush. They lay a clutch of 3-4 eggs. The eggs are-white to pinkish or reddish-tinged white, speckled or blotched with reddish-brown to purplish-red. The incubation is done by both sexes for a period of 12 days.