Fareed Mohmed ← The Indian List

Bird Photography · The Indian List

Parrotbills and Allies

1 of 17 species photographed

Seventeen species, nearly all of them small, round-bodied birds with a short, deep, downcurved bill built for stripping bamboo and reed stems apart to get at insects inside — the family's namesake feature and the quickest way to place a bird in this group before working out which one. Parrotbills are almost entirely a Northeast and Himalayan story in India, tied closely to bamboo thickets and tall grass, and most species travel in tight, noisy, constantly-moving flocks that are as often heard rustling through cover as seen.

Head pattern does most of the identification work within the family — a plain warm cap, a strongly rufous crown, or a grey hood with a black throat patch all belong to different species, so a clean look at the head is worth far more than body colour or size alone.

17Species in India
1Photographed
Bamboo and tall grassWhere they live
Short, deep, downcurvedThe bill that unites them
Head patternWhat separates the species

The species

Yellow-eyed Babbler

Yet to upload

White-breasted Parrotbill

Psittiparus ruficeps1 frame
Status
Resident
Range
The Himalayan foothills of the Northeast, including Arunachal Pradesh
Habitat
Bamboo thickets and dense undergrowth, usually in noisy flocks
IUCN
Least Concern

A round, fluffy bird with a warm orange-rufous cap and face fading to a clean white throat and breast, buff-brown wings, and the short, deep, pale-based bill typical of the family. Usually found low in bamboo or dense cover, moving with a chattering flock rather than sitting still — this frame's calm, still pose is the exception rather than the rule for the species.

FM0268
Mar 2024Eaglenest Wildlife Sanctuary, West Kameng, Arunachal PradeshFluffed up on a bare twig, head cocked toward the camera.

Photographs by Fareed Mohmed