Short-tailed Babbler

Short-tailed Babbler

Pellorneum malaccense

Silhouette: Rachael Joakim · PhyloPic

LCNTNear ThreatenedVUENCR
Daily sighting probability <5% · Rare
at Singapore

In 3 days ~10%

262 Verified sightings at Singapore
872 In all 8 parks From 2019 to 2026
September Best month
☀️ Diurnal When it's spotted

About the Short-tailed Babbler

The mourning babbler (Pellorneum malaccense), previously the short-tailed babbler, is a species of bird in the ground babbler family Pellorneidae. It is found in the Malay Peninsula, Anambas Islands, Sumatra, Banyak Islands, Batu Islands, Riau Islands, Lingga Islands and the Natuna Islands. It was formerly considered to be conspecific with the glissando babbler (Pellorneum saturatum) and the leaflitter babbler (Pellorneum poliogene).

Its natural habitat is tropical moist lowland forests. The species is generally solitary, not joining larger mixed-species flocks, instead foraging as singles or pairs. They forage in the understory on the ground on a variety of insects including beetles, grasshoppers, and ants. Like other babblers they will use their foot to grasp food items, an unusual behaviour for passerine birds.

The mourning babbler is locally common at a number of places within its range but is considered near-threatened due to the loss of lowland forest in its range. The mourning babbler was formally described in 1844 by the German ornithologist Gustav Hartlaub. He placed it with the shortwings in the genus Brachypteryx and coined the binomial name Brachypteryx... Wikipedia →

Sounds

Song0:22

Singapore · 2026

© Joan Theng · XC1104640 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Call0:12

Malaysia · 2025

© Lim Ying Hien 林勇贤 · XC1078123 · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Duet0:51

Indonesia · 2023

© Okamoto Keita Sin · XC838635 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Global Distribution

Parks Where Found

# Park Country Daily sighting probability
1 Khao Luang National Park 🇹🇭 Thailand
~30%
2 Danum Valley Conservation Area 🇲🇾 Malaysia
~20%
3 Taman Negara National Park 🇲🇾 Malaysia
~20%
4 Way Kambas National Park 🇮🇩 Indonesia
~10%
5 Sepilok 🇲🇾 Malaysia
<5%
6 Gunung Leuser National Park 🇮🇩 Indonesia
<5%
7 Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary 🇲🇾 Malaysia
<5%
8 Kinabalu Park 🇲🇾 Malaysia
<5%

Cities Where Found

# City Country Daily sighting probability
1 Kuala Lumpur 🇲🇾 Malaysia
~10%
2 Singapore 🇸🇬 Singapore
<5%

Before you go

What are the chances of seeing a Short-tailed Babbler in Singapore?

Rare

Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Short-tailed Babbler sighting in Singapore on a given day, based on 262 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 146th most-seen of the 298 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, if each day is a fresh chance.

When is the best time to see a Short-tailed Babbler in Singapore?

Any time of year

In every month with enough records, under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Short-tailed Babbler in Singapore on a given day, so our monthly data shows no clear season.

What time of day is best to see a Short-tailed Babbler?

Between 8 and 11 am

Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Short-tailed Babbler sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.

Is Singapore the best place to see a Short-tailed Babbler?

2nd of 2

Of the 2 cities where we can rate Short-tailed Babbler sightings, Singapore ranks 2nd at under 5%. The best odds are in Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia, about 10%).

Where does the Short-tailed Babbler sighting chance come from?

GBIF citizen-science records

It is estimated from how often the Short-tailed Babbler is recorded against all the birds logged in Singapore (262 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.

← Back to Singapore