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The jungle babbler ( Argya striata) is a member of the family Leiothrichidae found in the Indian subcontinent. Jungle babblers are gregarious birds that forage in small groups of six to ten birds, a habit that has given them the popular name of " Seven Sisters" in urban Northern India, and ( seven brothers) in Bengali language, with cognates in other regional languages which also mean "seven brothers".
The jungle babbler is a common resident breeding bird in most parts of the Indian subcontinent and is often seen in gardens within large cities as well as in forested areas. In the past, the orange-billed babbler, Turdoides rufescens, of Sri Lanka was considered to be a subspecies of jungle babbler, but has now been elevated to a species.
There are several named geographically isolated subspecies that show plumage shade differences. Former race rufescens of Sri Lanka is considered a full species. The widely accepted subspecies include:
Some older literature can be confusing due to some incorrect usage, such as with Whistler (1944, Spolia Zeylanica, 23:131), who used the name affinis which is a completely different species, Turdoides affinis, restricted to peninsular India. Although the two can sometimes be confused in poor lighting conditions, their calls are entirely different.
The jungle babbler lives in flocks of seven to ten or more. It is a noisy bird, and the presence of a flock may generally be known at some distance by the harsh mewing calls, continual chattering, squeaking and chirping produced by its members.
When foraging, some birds take up a high vantage point and act as sentinels. They are known to gather and mobbing behavior potential predators such as snakes. A study of their activity budget showed them to have greater similarity to social primates than to comparable birds.
Young birds have a dark iris. Older birds have an iris of a pale creamy colour and it has been found that the iris has a dark epithelium, which becomes invisible when the muscle fibres develop in the iris and make the dark basal colours invisible and thus appear cream-coloured.
They breed throughout the year, with peak breeding in northern India being noted between March–April and July–September. Birds reach sexual maturity after their third year. The nest is built halfway up in a tree, concealed in dense masses of foliage. The normal clutch is three or four (but can be up to seven) deep greenish blue eggs. In northern India, birds breeding during July–September tend to be Parasitism by the pied crested cuckoo and sometimes by the common hawk-cuckoo. Helpers assist the parents in feeding the young. Post fledging survival is very high.
Birds fledge and females tend to leave their natal group after about two years. Birds within a group often indulge in allopreening, play chases and mock fights. When threatened by predators, they have been said to sometimes Thanatosis. (Note: the reference uses the binomial of the jungle babbler)
The Indian folklorist Saratcandra Mitra recorded a belief among the Lushai-Kuki people that during a solar eclipse, humans could transform into jungle babblers.
Description
The jungle babbler's habitat is forest and Tillage. This species, like most babblers, is non-bird migration, and has short rounded wings and a weak flight. The sexes are identical, drably coloured in brownish grey with a yellow-bill making them confusable only with the endemic yellow-billed babblers of peninsular India and Sri Lanka. The upper parts are usually slightly darker in shade and there is some mottling on the throat and breast. Subspecies somervillei of Maharashtra has a very rufous tail and dark primary flight feathers. The jungle babbler can be separated from the white-headed babbler by the dark loreal zone between the bill and the eye as well as the lack of a contrasting light crown. The calls of the two species are however distinct and unmistakable. The jungle babbler has harsh nasal calls while the white-headed babbler has high pitched calls. Another babbler that is similarly found in urban areas is the large grey babbler; however, that species has a distinctive long tail with white outer tail feathers.
Behaviour and ecology
Jungle babblers are gregarious and very social. They sometimes form the core of a mixed-species foraging flock. They feed mainly on insects, but also eat grains, nectar and berries. The groups maintain territories and will defend them against neighbours, which are nevertheless sometimes tolerated. For their size, they are long lived and have been noted to live as long as 16.5 years in captivity.
In culture
Jungle babblers are very common near towns and cities, particularly in northern India. They are well known for their habit of moving in groups, which has earned them the local Hindi-Urdu name Sat Bhai (meaning "seven brethren"); in Indian English, however, this is often translated as the "Seven Sisters". Visitors to India are very likely to notice these vocal and active birds, and Frank Finn notes an incident during the colonial period in India:
Further reading
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