Jungle Babbler - Behaviour and Ecology

Behaviour and Ecology

These birds are gregarious and very social. They sometimes form the core of a mixed-species foraging flock. They feed mainly on insects, but also eats grains, nectar and berries. The groups maintain territories and will defend it against neighbours but will sometimes tolerate them. For their size, they are long lived and have been noted to live as long as 16.5 years in captivity.

When foraging, some birds take up a high vantage point and act as sentinels. They are known to gather and mob potential predators such as snakes.

Young birds have a dark iris. Older birds have a pale creamy colour and it has been found that the iris has a dark epithelium which become invisible when the muscle fibres develop in the iris and make the dark basal colours invisible and then appear cream coloured.

They breed throughout the year; peak breeding in northern India has been noted between March–April and July–September. Birds are able to breed after their third year. The nest is built halfway in a tree, concealed in dense masses of foliage. The normal clutch is three or four (but can be up to seven) deep greenish blue eggs. In northern India, birds breeding during June–September tend to be parasitized by the Pied Crested Cuckoo and sometimes by the Common Hawk-Cuckoo. Helpers assist the parents in feeding the young. Post fledging survival is very high.

Birds fledge and females tend to leave their natal group after about two years. Birds within a group often indulge in allopreening, play chases and mock fights. When threatened by predators, they have been said to sometimes feign death.