Turdoides subrufus - Indian Rufous Babbler

Babblers!  These perky robin-sized birds of the family Timaliidae are among my favorites.  Especially near and dear to my heart are the Turdoides babblers, often found cruising around their habitats in tight-knit family groups, digging through the dirt and trying to scratch up a grub or two.  Babblers have a ridiculous amount of personality; focus your attention on a group for more than a minute and you’re likely to see some fascinating social dynamics at play.

Of course, there is a reason for my attraction to these often-drab, brownish birds.  I’ve spent more time watching babblers than most species.  In 2005, I spent 3.5 months studying social behavior in Turdoides squamiceps, the Arabian Babbler, in the Negev desert of southern Israel.   I was working at the time with well-known sociobiologist Amotz Zahavi, a provocative and (in my opinion) quite brilliant evolutionary theorist.  His “Handicap Principle” theory, first published in 1975, threw the field of Biology on its head – and caused a headache that the sciences have still not quite recovered from.  So it was a strange bit of coincidence then, to see the name Amotz Zahavi on an advertisement for a lecture series at the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore.  The possibility of seeing Amotz again was too good to pass up, so Erin and I hopped a 7-hour bus, from the jungle to the big city, for the event.

The lecture was classic Zahavi: “The Handicap Principle: A Key Element in Communication and its Effects on the Human Body and Behavior”.  Rather than sum up the lecture here, I might as well direct you to the Wikipedia article on the Handicap Principle.  Better yet, pick up a copy of the book – well worth the read, even for non-science-minded folks.  There is so much that we can learn about humanity by examining non-human systems.  Amotz’s theories offer a unique perspective on evolutionary history, one that has the potential to change the way we view ourselves and our world.  Check it out!

It was great to see Amotz again - you might say that it gave me some closure to reconnect with him.  Amotz was born in 1928 - he’s no longer a fledgling - so I realized that this was likely my last opportunity to talk with him.  Erin and I arrived for the lecture about 45 minutes early and were able to chat with Amotz for awhile before the event.  Though Amotz and I have not always seen eye-to-eye, seeing him again was like visiting an old friend.  I left the lecture feeling quite light, having reconnected with a friend and mentor.

Amotz with the Arabian Babblers, Turdoides squamiceps, in the Neveg, Israel.

So one week later, one of our staffers – Ravi – comes to me with a bird in his hand.  A Babbler!  The Rufous Babbler to be exact, Turdoides subrufus.  This bird had apparently become trapped in a window screen.  My obsession with wildlife is well-known among everyone on the farm, and so people do what they can to track me down when something like this comes along.  Ravi found me and turned the bird over, giving me the opportunity to hold it in my hands and examine it more closely.

Here, thousands of miles away, I am holding a Turdoides babbler in my hands.  It reminds me so much of the Arabian variety, but is also incredibly unique.  The most notable difference is the rich rufous color of its breast – the trait for which this bird is named.  This bird is one of the few endemic species of the Western Ghats range, and thus a particularly exciting catch – nowhere on Earth can one encounter Turdoides subrufus but in the Western Ghats mountain range.  Thanks to Amotz and Ravi both!

Tags: babblers, bangalore, india, rufous, squamiceps, subrufus, turdoides, western ghats, zahavi

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