Rufous-fronted Babbler

Rufous-fronted Babbler

Stachyridopsis rufifrons

LCLeast ConcernNTVUENCR
Daily sighting probability ~20% · Possible
at Danum Valley Conservation Area

In 3 days ~40% in a week ~70%

252 Verified sightings at Danum Valley Conservation Area From 2019 to 2026
1,466 In all 8 parks
March Best month
☀️ Diurnal When it's spotted

About the Rufous-fronted Babbler

The rufous-fronted babbler (Cyanoderma rufifrons) is a babbler species in the Old World babbler family. It occurs in the Eastern Himalayan foothills, Myanmar, Thailand, northern Indochina and south to the Malay Peninsula and the islands of Sumatra and Borneo. The buff-chested babbler is now subsumed into this species.

The rufous-fronted babbler was formally described in 1873 by the English naturalist Allan Octavian Hume based on a specimen that had been collected by Eugene W. Oates on the western slopes of the Pegu Range of central Myanmar. Hume placed the specimen in the genus Stachyris and coined the binomial name Stachyris rufifrons. The specific epithet rufifrons is modern Latin meaning "red-fronted", from Latin rufus meaning "red" or "rufous" and frons, frontis meaning "forehead" or "brow". The rufous-fronted babbler is now one of seven babblers placed in the genus Cyanoderma that was first introduced in 1874 by the Italian zoologist Tommaso Salvadori.

Nine subspecies are recognised: Wikipedia →

Sounds

Song1:11

Malaysia · 2026

© Ding Li Yong · XC1166897 · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Call0:14

Malaysia · 2022

© Amar-Singh HSS · XC736798 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Song0:11

Thailand · 2025

© Lim Ying Hien 林勇贤 · XC1078408 · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Global Distribution

Parks Where Found

# Park Country Daily sighting probability
1 Kaeng Krachan National Park 🇹🇭 Thailand
~20%
2 Danum Valley Conservation Area 🇲🇾 Malaysia
~20%
3 Khao Sok National Park 🇹🇭 Thailand
~10%
4 Khao Luang National Park 🇹🇭 Thailand
<5%
5 Kerinci Seblat National Park 🇮🇩 Indonesia
<5%
6 Doi Inthanon National Park 🇹🇭 Thailand
<5%
7 Namdapha National Park 🇮🇳 India
<5%
8 Taman Negara National Park 🇲🇾 Malaysia
<5%

Before you go

What are the chances of seeing a Rufous-fronted Babbler in Danum Valley Conservation Area?

Possible

About 20% of wildlife watchers report a Rufous-fronted Babbler sighting in Danum Valley Conservation Area on a given day, based on 252 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 87th most-seen of the 258 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 40%, and over a week to about 70%, if each day is a fresh chance.

When is the best time to see a Rufous-fronted Babbler in Danum Valley Conservation Area?

March, May–June and August–October

In those months about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Rufous-fronted Babbler in Danum Valley Conservation Area on a given day, against about 10% in April, July and November–February, the lowest months.

What time of day is best to see a Rufous-fronted Babbler?

Between 8 and 11 am

Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Rufous-fronted Babbler sightings with a recorded time, and nearly all of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.

Is Danum Valley Conservation Area the best place to see a Rufous-fronted Babbler?

Among the best

Of the 8 parks where we can rate Rufous-fronted Babbler sightings, Danum Valley Conservation Area ranks 2nd at about 20%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Kaeng Krachan National Park (Thailand, about 20%).

Which relatives of the Rufous-fronted Babbler live in Danum Valley Conservation Area?

Same family: Timaliidae

The closest relatives of the Rufous-fronted Babbler that you can see in Danum Valley Conservation Area (family Timaliidae, Tree-Babblers, Scimitar-Babblers, and Allies) are Bold-striped Tit-Babbler (about 40%), Chestnut-winged Babbler (about 40%) and Chestnut-rumped Babbler (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.

Where does the Rufous-fronted Babbler sighting chance come from?

GBIF citizen-science records

It is estimated from how often the Rufous-fronted Babbler is recorded against all the birds logged in Danum Valley Conservation Area (252 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), 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.

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