About Turdoides plebejus (Cretzschmar, 1828)
The brown babbler, scientifically named Turdoides plebejus (Cretzschmar, 1828), is a medium-sized Turdoides babbler. It measures 22–25 centimetres (8.7–9.8 in) in length and weighs around 52–80 grams (1.8–2.8 oz). Its plumage is grey-brown, with a white-streaked throat and breast and a scaled head. The wings are bronze-brown, the bill is black, and the legs are dusky or slaty black. The iris of the eye is yellow. The sexes have identical appearance. Juvenile birds resemble adults, but they have plainer, browner plumage and brown irises.
This species inhabits a broad band of the Sahel, located between the Sahara Desert and the tropical forests of Western Africa. Its range extends from southern Mauritania, Senegal and the Gambia to southern Sudan, Uganda and western Kenya. It lives in open savanna, wooded grasslands, riparian habitats in drier areas, degraded cultivation areas, farmlands, parks and gardens. The brown babbler is common across its range and easily adapts to human-modified habitats, so it is not considered threatened with extinction. It is mostly a sedentary, non-migratory species, but it is thought to make some seasonal movements based on local rainy season conditions. It is observed more frequently during the rainy season in central Burkina Faso, and it has been seen to be erratically absent or present in the Kampala region of Uganda.
