Name: Ashy Tailorbird (Orthotomus ruficeps)
Classification: Animalia > Chordata > Aves > Passeriformes > Cisticolidae > Orthotomus > ruficeps
Habitat: Secondary forest, Urban
Description: Like most tailorbirds, the Ashy Tailorbird is a small and flighty bird that builds its nest from rolling up leaves and sewing them together using plant fibres and spiderweb threads, commonly spotted darting about inside hedges and undergrowth and between trees. It has a long and loud call which is either a single long pree or a long pree, and ending with a short chip. To differentiate the Ashy Tailorbird from the other tailorbirds in Singapore, note that the Ashy Tailorbird’s face is completely rust coloured, as opposed to the rust coloured crowns of the Common Tailorbird (Orthotomus sutorius) and the Dark-necked Tailorbird (Orthotomus atrogularis). In addition, the Ashy Tailorbird’s upper parts and tail are, as its name suggests, an ashy grey, in contrast to the olive-green of the Common Tailorbird and the Dark-necked Tailorbird. Other features of this tailorbird are its long slender bill, with the upper mandible curved at the tip, off-white abdomen and orange legs. It would seem, however, that the Ashy Tailorbird is less abundant than the Common Tailorbird on campus, though this isn’t always the case in other parts of Singapore.
Call:
Ashy Tailorbird (source: xeno-canto.org)
Distribution Map:
Photo Gallery:
The Birds of NUS 