Shemgang, Bhutan
April 2008

The White-browed Shrike-Babbler is distributed from north-east Pakistan along the Himalayas to southern and eastern China and south through Indochina and the Malaysian Peninsula to Indonesia and Borneo. See the distribution map at Birdlife International.

It is found in a variety of forest types where it feeds on insects, beetles, berries, fruit and seeds.

The male has a striking white supercilium and orange tertials which can just be seen in photo 1. Otherwise upperparts are black while underparts are greyish-white with a pinky-buff tinge to the lower flanks and belly.

The female, seen here in photo 3, is very different with a grey head, brownish mantle yellow and orange on the wings and buffy-grey underparts.

Recent genetic work apparently shows that this genus is not a babbler but more correctly belongs to the New World family of vireos with which it shares a lot of behavioural characteristics.

There are recordings on xeno-canto and additional information is available via Avibase.