Range of Chinese Babax Pterorhinus lanceolatus covers most of south China as well as small parts of India and Burma. All three ssp. resident in China: lanceolatus southern Gansu and western Hubei across Red Basin in Sichuan and Chongqing to central Yunnan and northern Guizhou; latouchei southern Guizhou to Fujian; and bonvaloti western Sichuan, southeast Tibet, and northwest Yunnan. HABITAT & BEHAVIOR Open broadleaf evergreen forests (especially secondary forests), bamboo thickets, and hillside scrub, from 350–4265 m (1,150–13,990 ft.). Usually in small parties. Forages in undergrowth, but mornings and evenings often seen on treetops, whistling loudly. ID & COMPARISON Long-tailed, boldly streaked brown babbler. Nominate has rufous-brown crown with thin white streaks, dirty-white lores, supercilium, and ear coverts, and dark chestnut malar stripe. Upperparts chestnut with white streaking. Wings and long, rounded tail pale brown. Underparts creamy-white with broad, long, chestnut streaking on breast sides and flanks. Juvenile buffier with fainter streaks and straighter bill. Race latouchei has a black malar stripe and is smaller; bonvaloti darker above and larger. BARE PARTS Iris yellow. Bill arched, black. Feet brownish-pink. VOICE Clear, loud, slowly enunciated four-note whistle, repeated over and over with pauses lasting about 5 seconds. — Craig Brelsford
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Daniel Bengtsson served as chief ornithological consultant for Craig Brelsford’s Photographic Field Guide to the Birds of China, from which this species description is drawn.
