Arrow-marked Babbler ( Turdoides jardineii, family: Sylviidae)

arrow marked babbler kruger national park birds The Arrow-marked Babbler (Latin name Turdoides jardineii) is described in Roberts Birds of Southern Africa, 7th Edition. This bird has a unique Roberts number of 560 and you will find a full description of this bird on page 812 also a picture of the Arrow-marked Babbler on page 768. The Arrow-marked Babbler belongs to the family of birds classified as Sylviidae.

The map of the Kruger you see on this page shows the areas (coloured orange) where this bird has been identified. The basic information was provided by the Avian Demographic Unit based at UCT and I created the maps from that information ... the green dots show the locations of the various Kruger National Park Rest Camps

The Arrow-marked Babbler is neither Endemic or near Endemic to the Kruger National Park. It is however a common resident

In terms of distribution of the Arrow-marked Babbler in the Kruger National Park you may not see it in all areas. Arrow-marked Babbler : see above distribution map.

The Arrow-marked Babbler.

Arrow Marked Babbler Kruger ParkIdentification assistance for this avian species ...

The Arrow-marked Babbler is a bird about the same size as a starling. The height of the Arrow-marked Babbler is about 25 cms and its weight is about 72 gms

The male and female Arrow-marked Babbler have the same plumage and colours

  • Head is black, brown.
  • Eye is orange.
  • Bill is black.
  • Throat is brown.
  • Back is brown.
  • Legs are black.

This bird has normally proportioned leg length.

Main diet items for this bird ...

The Arrow-marked Babbler feeds on the ground and in foliage mainly

Invertebrates

Fruits

Seeds

Breeding and nesting habits for this bird ...

The Arrow-marked Babbler takes on more than a single mate (it is bigamous).

The nesting habit of Arrow-marked Babbler is to create the nest in branches of a tree or shrub. The bird lays eggs which are green in colour and number between 2 to 5

Habitat and flocking behaviour for this bird ...

The preferred habitats for Arrow-marked Babbler are: woodlands and grasslands and riverine areas

You will normally see the Arrow-marked Babbler in flocks.

Names of this avian species in other languages ...

Xhosa ... Unknown

Zulu ... iHelkehle

Afrikaans ...Pylvlekkatlagter

German ... Braundroling

Portuguese ... Zaragateiro-castanho

French ... Cratrope flch

Dutch ... Pijlpuntbabbelaar

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For in-depth birding information please refer to these authoritative avian references ...

Robert's 7th edition number ... 560

The main reference source for this data was "Roberts - Birds of Southern Africa, 7th Edition" . Other references were "Newmans Birds of the Kruger Park" by Keith Newman published circa 1980 . Names in foreign languages were obtained from the Percy Fitzpatrick Institute of African Ornithology, University of Cape Town website , www.fitzpatrick.uct.ac.za