Pellorneum malaccense
Silhouette: Rachael Joakim · PhyloPic
In 3 days <5%
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 →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Khao Luang National Park | 🇹🇭 Thailand | |
| 2 | Danum Valley Conservation Area | 🇲🇾 Malaysia | |
| 3 | Taman Negara National Park | 🇲🇾 Malaysia | |
| 4 | Way Kambas National Park | 🇮🇩 Indonesia | |
| 5 | Sepilok | 🇲🇾 Malaysia | |
| 6 | Gunung Leuser National Park | 🇮🇩 Indonesia | |
| 7 | Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary | 🇲🇾 Malaysia | |
| 8 | Kinabalu Park | 🇲🇾 Malaysia |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kuala Lumpur | 🇲🇾 Malaysia | |
| 2 | Singapore | 🇸🇬 Singapore |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Short-tailed Babbler sighting in Kinabalu Park on a given day, based on 5 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 237th most-seen of the 247 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to under 5%, if each day is a fresh chance.
Any time of year
In every month with enough records, under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Short-tailed Babbler in Kinabalu Park on a given day, so our monthly data shows no clear season.
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.
8th of 8
Of the 8 parks where we can rate Short-tailed Babbler sightings, Kinabalu Park ranks 8th at under 5%. The best odds are in Khao Luang National Park (Thailand, about 30%), Danum Valley Conservation Area (Malaysia, about 20%) and Taman Negara National Park (Malaysia, about 20%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Short-tailed Babbler is recorded against all the birds logged in Kinabalu Park (5 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.
