Long-billed Wren-babbler - Dwergkruiplijster - Rimator malacoptilus
Long-billed Wren-babbler is one of the target species of the birdwatchers in Eaglenest. It is a restricted range species of the humid mid-montane forested zones of the East Himalaya. It is found from Bhutan, over Arunachal Pradesh into Birma. It's habitat consists of broadleaved evergreen forest, at an altitude between 900 metres and 2000 metres above sea-level. Within this forested habitat it shows a preference for thick wet secundary growth and humid bamboo areas. Within a primary forest vegetation, such as much of the vegetation in Eaglenest, it is often found in humid gullies and wet places where treefall has been followed by the devolpment of thick and dense secundary growth. As the sepcies is an extreme skulker, spending most of his time in the dense and dark undergrowth, the best chance to find the species is by hearing it's song. The species is everywhere scarce to rare within it's range, so we were very glad to find the bird on our last day in Sessni, when he started singing low in a gully.