Listen to the Indian scimitar babbler
Tip: press play to see the sound's live frequency spectrum in blue over the waveform.
About the Indian scimitar babbler
The Indian scimitar babbler is a bird in the family Timaliidae (order Passeriformes). Its conservation status on the IUCN Red List is “least concern”. Adults weigh around 43 g.
What does the Indian scimitar babbler sound like?
Birds produce sound with the syrinx, a vocal organ deep in the chest that can make two independent sounds at once. Songs tend to be long and patterned and are used to hold territory and attract a mate; calls are short signals for contact, alarm and flight.
The recordings here are labelled as call, duet and song. Listen for differences in rhythm, pitch and repetition – the spectrum display makes it easy to see whether a sound is a pure whistle (a thin line), a harsh call (a broad band) or a trill (rapid repeated marks).
From Wikipedia
The Indian scimitar babbler (Pomatorhinus horsfieldii) is an Old World babbler. It is found in peninsular India in a range of forest habitats. They are most often detected by their distinctive calls, which include an antiphonal duet by a pair of birds. They are often hard to see as they forage through dense vegetation. The long, curved yellow, scimitar-shaped bills give them their name. It has been treated in the past as a subspecies of the white-browed scimitar babbler which is found along the Himalayas but now separated into two species, the peninsular Indian species and the Sri Lanka scimitar babbler (Pomatorhinus melanurus).
More from the family Timaliidae
Frequently asked questions
What does an Indian scimitar babbler sound like?
You can hear 2 recordings of the Indian scimitar babbler on this page, including its call, duet and song. Birds produce sound with the syrinx, a vocal organ deep in the chest that can make two independent sounds at once.
Is the Indian scimitar babbler endangered?
The IUCN Red List classifies the Indian scimitar babbler as “least concern”.
What family does the Indian scimitar babbler belong to?
The Indian scimitar babbler (Pomatorhinus horsfieldii) belongs to the family Timaliidae in the order Passeriformes.
Sources & credits
- Call · Jamboti, Belgaum, Karnataka, India by Sharad Apte – CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
- Duet, song · Chittoor, Andhra Pradesh, India by K L Vinay – CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
- Wikidata Q1318011 – CC0
- Wikipedia: Indian scimitar babbler – CC BY-SA 4.0
- Photo by Sai Adikarla – CC BY 2.0