PAKHI DEKHUN PAKHI CHINUN ...(Observe the Bird and recognize)..BLACK EARED SHRIKE BABBLER

PAKHI DEKHUN PAKHI CHINUN # 569/598(Observe the Bird and recognize)..BLACK EARED SHRIKE BABBLER...GELPEN AND COLOURED PENCIL..2015... [From the photograph of MR. AVINASH KHEMKA] COURTESY: INDIAN BIRDS Journal and an article by Panchami Manoo UkilMaam.... The black-eared shrike-babbler (Pteruthius melanotis) is a bird species traditionally considered an aberrant Old World babbler and placed in the family Timaliidae. But as it seems, it belongs to an Asian offshoot of the American vireos and may well belong in the Vireonidae. Indeed, since long it was noted that their habits resemble those of vireos, but this was believed to be the result of convergent evolution. It is found in Bhutan, China, India, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand, and Vietnam. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.
11·5–12 cm; 10–14 g. Small yellow-bellied shrike-babbler with black rear ear-coverts and grey nuchal band, male with rusty chin and throat and two white wingbars.
Song a repeated, very monotonous series of notes, variable.
Large green grasshoppers (Orthoptera) and other insects are favorite diet.