Old World babbler, a large family of mostly Old World passerine birds
It was formerly considered a subspecies of the White-browed Shrike-babbler.
Call is a loud repeated chonk-chonk-chonk-chonk-chonk somewhat reminiscent of a Common Tailorbird.
It previously was considered a subspecies of the Chestnut-fronted Shrike-babbler.
The Taiwan Wren-babbler is endemic to Taiwan, and similarly the Nepal Wren-babbler has a resricted distribution, mostly occurring in Nepal (and also slightly into India).
The Taiwan Wren-babbler was once treated as a subspecies of this species.
It previously was considered the nominate subspecies of the Chestnut-fronted Shrike-babbler.
White-headed Babbler | White-browed Shrike-babbler (disambiguation) | White-browed Shrike-babbler | Old World babbler | Grey-crowned Babbler | Taiwan Wren-babbler | Chestnut-fronted Shrike-babbler (disambiguation) | Chestnut-fronted Shrike-babbler | Nepal Wren-babbler | Indian Scimitar Babbler | Hall's Babbler |
Starting in the 1970s, Amotz Zahavi observed the babbler at length, giving rise to his theory of signal and its correlative, the handicap principle.
Seven species of birds are strictly endemic: the Bamenda Apalis (Apalis bamendae), Bangwa Forest Warbler (Bradypterus bangwaensis), White-throated Mountain-babbler (Kupeornis gilberti), Banded Wattle-eye (Platysteira laticincta), Bannerman's Weaver (Ploceus bannermani), Mount Kupe Bush-shrike (Telophorus kupeensis) and Bannerman's Turaco (Tauraco bannermani), which is a cultural icon for the Kom people who live in the area.
It is derived from the personal name Lyalya, "aunt", the nickname lyalya or lala, itself from Proto-Slavic *l'al'a, "babbler, fool" or from the personal name Lyala, an affectionate form of Vlado (Vladimir, Vladislav).
The Visayan Miniature Babbler is found on the islands of Samar, Leyte and Biliran in the central Philippines, whereas the Mindanao Miniature Babbler is restricted to Mindanao only.
Species in the Pare mountains include the endemic South Pare White-eye, Mountain Buzzard (Buteo oreophilus), Olive Woodpecker, Moustached Green-tinkerbird (Pogoniulus leucomystax) and the African Hill Babbler (Pseudoalcippe abyssinica).
As with other babbler species, they frequently occur in groups of up to a dozen, and the rain forest species like Indian Scimitar Babbler often occur in the mixed feeding flocks typical of tropical Asian jungle.