FeatherScan logo
FeatherScan
Overview
White-throated mountain babbler

White-throated mountain babbler

Wikipedia

The white-throated mountain babbler is a passerine bird in the family Leiothrichidae. It is native to the Cameroonian Highlands forests.

Loading map...

Distribution

Region

Cameroonian Highlands (Gulf of Guinea Highlands)

Typical Environment

Occurs in moist montane and submontane evergreen forests, including mature forest, secondary growth, and forest edges. It favors dense understory and vine tangles, thickets along streams, and bamboo or bracken patches. Birds often keep low to mid-levels in vegetation and move in small groups through interior forest. In parts of its range it extends into adjacent highland forest in southeastern Nigeria.

Altitude Range

700–2000 m

Climate Zone

Highland

Characteristics

Size20–22 cm
Wing Span25–30 cm
Male Weight0.052 kg
Female Weight0.049 kg
Life Expectancy7 years

Ease of Keeping

Beginner friendly: 1/5

Useful to know

This shy understory babbler is confined to the Cameroonian (Gulf of Guinea) Highlands, where it slips through dense tangles and often joins mixed-species flocks. Its crisp white throat stands out in the dim montane forest light and helps separate it from other brown babblers. Habitat loss from agriculture and logging is the main threat. It is more often heard than seen, giving soft chatters and duets.

Behaviour

Temperament

secretive and group-oriented

Flight Pattern

short rapid wingbeats; reluctant long-distance flier

Social Behavior

Typically found in small family parties that keep close contact with soft calls. Frequently joins mixed-species flocks in the midstory and understory. Likely pairs during the breeding season and nests low in dense vegetation, with both parents attending young.

Migratory Pattern

Resident

Song Description

A series of soft chatters, whistles, and trills delivered in short phrases, often as antiphonal duets between pair members. Contact calls are dry ticks and churrs given while moving through thick cover.

Similar Bird Species