Birdwatching

FULVOUS BABBLER.


Babblers of the genus Rurdoides resemble small thrushes in appearance and size, with a generally brownish coloir, short wings, a long graduated tail, well developed feet and a rather stout curved bill.
They are normally birds of open, often sandy, deserts, semi deserts and dry river plains, with scatterd trees anf bushes.



Typically, the vegetation includes date palms, mimosa, tamarisk and lower growing plants sutch as astericus and, especially, awn grass.
Markedly gregarious in habit, babblers usually occur in families or even groups of families of up to a dozen birds or more.

Babblers frequently cooperate, especially when foraging but also during the rearing of young.Wher members of the group assist the current breeding pairs and delay their own breeding activities.
The genus Turdoifrs is represented by four species in the Western Palearctic, Iraq Babbler and from India through Southern Afghanistan into S-Iran,Arabian, Jordan, Sinai and Central Africa.

Four subspecies of Fulvius Babbler, are recognized based essentially, ondifference in plumage colour, size and bill structure.
My observation, is on the subspecies T F maroccanus during early May in two very widely separated areas of Morocco the arid sand and stone deserts of the Fafilalt region, near the town of Erfoud in the extreme S-east of the country, and the comparatively fertile and partly cultivated broad plain of the Qued Sous, inland from the coastel town af Agadir, in the west.

Between these two localiries in the desert and semi desert country S- of the High Atlas, the bird is found as a widespread and not uncommon resident.
Breeding in Morocco at least, may take place at almost any time of the year, with young birds having seen as late as November. These birds spent their time foraging in rhe scattered eucalyptus and other trees, shrubs and bushes, including the introduced tobacco nicotina glauca; along the margins of the river and its side wadis, but were not seen on the ground, when not calling, they were surprisingly difficult to locate, moving from one piece of cover to another on typically outstretched wings in long gliding flights.

The adult birds spent most of their time on the ground....looks like the North American Roadrunner.