Rail-babbler (Eupetes macrocerus)
About the Rail-babbler
The rail-babbler or Malaysian rail-babbler (Eupetes macrocerus) is a brown and pied rail-like ground-living bird. It is the only species in the genus Eupetes and family Eupetidae. It lives on the floor of primary forests in the Malay Peninsula and Sumatra (the nominate subspecies macrocerus), as well as Borneo (ssp. borneensis). It is distantly related to African rockfowl. Its population has greatly decreased because much of the lowland primary forest has been cut, and secondary forests usually have too dense a bottom vegetation or do not offer enough shade to be favourable for the species. However, it is locally still common in logged forest or on hill-forest on slopes, and probably not in immediate danger of extinction. The species is poorly known and rarely seen, in no small part due to its shyness.
No audio on this page yet
We only publish recordings we may use commercially, because this site is supported by ads. xeno-canto lists 63 recordings for this species: 1 CC BY-NC-ND · 1 CC BY-NC-SA. None of them permits commercial use, so there is no player here — the page is kept as a profile so the bird is not missing from the guide.
As soon as someone uploads a freely licensed recording, we mirror it and the player appears here.
Listed as recorded in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand in the xeno-canto catalogue.
Other birds you can hear here
- Ashy DrongoDicrurus leucophaeusrecording
- Asian KoelEudynamys scolopaceusrecording
- Banded Bay CuckooCacomantis sonneratiirecording
- Barn SwallowHirundo rusticarecording
- Black-crowned Night HeronNycticorax nycticoraxrecording
- Black-hooded OrioleOriolus xanthornusrecording
These are the birds recorded alongside it, not close relatives — the site holds no other member of its genus or family yet.