Yellow-eyed Babbler (Chrysomma sinense)
Order: PASSERIFORMES
Family: TIMALIIDAE Babblers
Scientific name: Chrysomma sinense
English name: Yellow-eyed Babbler
Characteristic: Size 19 cm. A small, strong black-billed and long-tailed bird; head all through upperpart brown, wings reddish brown; throat to breast white; underpart creamy; skiny eyering orange, and eyes bright yellow.
Distribution: Found from Pakistan to Southern China, Myanmer, Thailand, Laos and Vietnam.
Habitat: Open fields, scrub forest from the plain to 1,800 m. altitude. In Sakaerat area, its preferred site is the grass fields among the dry dipterocarp forest.
Habit: In the breeding season, this babbler lives in pair, but in non-breeding time they keep in small flocks of 5-15 birds; may foraging in mixed-feeding flocks with other prinias amongst the high tussocks. Its diet consists of insects hiding along the stems and leaves of grasses; in addition, it also takes nectar from some flowers. Usually it is hard to detect them among dense grass tussocks. Breeds in March to October, when it builds a deep cup-shaped nest of grass leaves, reed leaves and sedge leaves, and lined with soft and fine materials; the nest is always suspended between grass shoots in a tussock, about 50-150 cm. above the ground; in which a clutch of 3-5 pinkish white eggs blotched all over with reddish colour is laid; both parent take part in building nest, incubaton and tending young.
Status: Uncomonly-seen resident bird in Sakeerat forest. Being legally a protected wild animal.
