Australian Babblers

Australian BabblersGrey-crowned Babbler White-browed Babbler

Australia has four recognised species of Babblers, and one subspecies, that are also collectively known as the Australasian Babblers:

• Chestnut-crowned Babbler (Pomatostomus ruficeps)
• Grey-crowned Babbler (Pomatostomus temporalis)
• Hall’s Babbler (Pomatostomus halli)
• White-browed Babbler (Pomatostomus superciliosus)

The Red-breasted Babbler (Pomatostomus temporalis rubeculus) subspecies of the Grey-crowned Babbler, is yet to be ID as a separate species.

The Grey-crowned Babbler (Pomatostomus temporalis) is also found in south New Guinea.

At the time of researching and writing this page, Graeme Chapman (Natural History Photographer – Ornithologist) website (2005-2015), had listed the following:

• Chestnut-crowned Babbler (Pomatostomus ruficeps)
• Grey-crowned Babbler (Pomatostomus temporalis)
• Hall’s Babbler (Pomatostomus halli)
• Red-breasted Babbler (Pomatostomus temporalis rubeculus)
• White-browed Babbler (Pomatostomus superciliosus)

eBird Australia has a number of species listed that include babblers from around the world.

The Australian Babblers are communal birds, found living in family groups, that are often made up of the offspring who remain with the family, helping to build the nests and feeding the new young.

They build dome shaped nests that are usually built in dense foliage, at least two to three metres up in a tree. They will build two nests, a brood nest and a roosting nest. A noisy chatty bird, they are usually foraging on the ground.

Pomatostomus is the type genus of the family Pomatostomidae. It was the only genus in the family before the Papuan Babbler was classified as a separate genus Garritornis.

---

• Scientific classification
• Kingdom: Animalia
• Phylum: Chordata
• Subphylum: Vertebrata
• Class: Aves
• Order: Passeriformes
• Family: Pomatostomidae
• Genus: Pomastostomus
• Subgenus:
  • Pomatostomus (Morganornis) Mathews, 1912
  • Pomatostomus (Pomatostomus) Cabanis, 1851

• Subgenus: infrageneric Morganornis
• Species:
  • Pomatostomus (Morganornis) ruficeps (Hartlaub, 1852)
  • Pomatostomus (Morganornis) superciliosus (Vigors & Horsfield, 1827)

• Subgenus: infrageneric Pomatostomus
• Species:
  • Pomatostomus (Pomatostomus) halli Cowles, 1964
  • Pomatostomus (Pomatostomus) temporalis (Vigors & Horsfield, 1827)

---

---

Australian BabblersGrey-crowned Babbler White-browed Babbler

BirdsApostlebird Australasian Darter Australasian Figbird Australasian Gannet Australasian Grebe Australasian Pipit Australasian Robins Australasian Shoveler (Spatula rhynchotis) Australasian Wrens Australian Babblers Australian Bustard Australian Chats Australian Magpie Australian Pelican Australian Pratincole (Stiltia isabella) Australian White Ibis Bassian Thrush Black-faced Cormorant Black-faced Woodswallow Black Swan Bowerbirds Brolga Brown Songlark Channel-billed Cuckoo Cinnamon Quail-thrush Cormorants Cuckooshrikes and Allies Dotterels Lapwings Plovers Doves & Pigeons Emu Fairy Martin Finches Grey Fantail Grey Teal Honeyeaters Kingfishers Little Friarbird Little Grassbird Magpie-lark Masked Woodswallow Noisy Pitta Olive Whistler Paradise Riflebird Pardalotes Parrots Pheasant Coucal Pied Butcherbird Rainbow Bee-eater Raptors Rufous Fantail Redthroat Rufous Bristlebird Silver-crowned Friarbird Torresian Crow Waders Welcome Swallow (Hirundo neoxena) Whiskered Tern (Chlidonias hybrida) White-browed Woodswallow White Capped Noddy White-faced Heron White-necked Heron Willie Wagtail Yellow-throated Scrubwren