Gray-crowned Babbler

1. Pale grey crown with a bold white eyebrow and dark facial mask

2. Rufous wing patch flashes orange-red in flight

3, Long, curved black bill and pale yellow eyes

These birds are cooperative breeders, living in family groups where non-breeding helpers assist with raising young. The breeding season generally runs from July to February. Females lay 2-3 eggs per clutch, and both parents, along with helpers, participate in incubation and feeding the chicks. Grey-crowned Babblers build large, domed stick nests with a side entrance, often reused and added to over generations. Their diet is omnivorous, consisting mainly of insects and other small invertebrates, with occasional seeds and fruit. They forage by turning over leaf litter and probing bark with their curved bills.

Grey-crowned Babblers are widespread in eastern and northern Australia, inhabiting open woodlands and forests with mature eucalypts, scattered shrubs, and plenty of leaf litter or fallen timber. They are often seen in groups of 2–15 birds, foraging on the ground or in low shrubs, especially along woodland edges, watercourses, and sometimes in remt bushland on farmland. Their range has contracted in southern regions due to habitat loss, and they are now rare or absent from long-cleared areas.