The Foraging Tactics of Chestnut-winged Babbler (Stachyris erythroptera) and Abbott's Babbler (Malacocincla abbotti) in a Lowland Rainforest, Malaysia

Two species of babblers, the Chestnut-winged Babbler (Stachyris erythroptera) and Abbott's Babbler (Malacocincla abbotti), coexist in the lowland rainforest of Lenggong Valley, Malaysia, despite their similar dietary habits. This coexistence is enabled by distinct foraging tactics: the Chestnut-winged Babbler primarily uses stretching manoeuvres to reach food, while Abbott's Babbler relies on gleaning. The study, conducted from July 2010 to July 2011, analyzed foraging height, substrates, and attack manoeuvres using principal component analysis and Pearson's correlation. Both species utilized similar proportions of low-height foraging (>0-2 m) and dead leaves as substrates but differed in their attack strategies, supporting Gause's Law of competitive exclusion by demonstrating niche separation.

Mansor, M. S., Ramli, R., & Mohd. Sah, S. A. (2015). The Foraging Tactics of Chestnut-winged Babbler (Stachyris erythroptera) and Abbott’s Babbler (Malacocincla abbotti) in a Lowland Rainforest, Malaysia. Sains Malaysiana, 44(5), 687–692. https://doi.org/10.17576/jsm-2015-4405-07