Gray-headed Babbler

SCI Name:  Stachyris poliocephala
Protonym:  Timalia poliocephala Pl.Col. livr.100 pl.593 fig.2
Taxonomy:  Passeriformes / Timaliidae / Stachyris
Taxonomy Code:  gyhbab1
Type Locality:  Sumatra and Borneo ; restricted to Benkulen [lat. 3° 4r S., long. 102° 15'' E.], Sumatra, by Kloss, 1931, Treubia, 13, p. 348.
Author:  Temminck
Publish Year:  1836
IUCN Status:  Least Concern

DEFINITIONS

STACHYRIS
(Timaliidae; Ϯ Grey-throated Babbler S. nigriceps) Gr. στραχυ strakhu  rough, distort  < τραχυς trakhus  rough, jagged; ῥις rhis, ῥινος rhinos nostrils; "Timaliæ  ...  Stachyris, Hodgson.  ...  1. St. nigriceps, Hodgson.  ...  2. St. pyrrhops, Hodgson.  ...  3. St. chrysæa, Hodgson.  ...  Mr. Hodgson sends the following diagnostics  ...  "Stachyris, Mihi. (Certhianæ? Leiotrichanæ? Parianæ? [I do not hesitate to place it as above.—E. B.]  Bill equal to head, very strong, pointed, and trenchant; tips equal and entire; its form conico-compressed and higher than broad, with culmen raised between prolonged nareal fossæ.  Nares basal, lateral, with ovoid posteal aperture, the front being closed by the very salient rude scale above.  Gape smooth.  Frontlet rigid.  Tongue cartilaginous, bifid, simple.  Legs and feet very strong, suited to creeping and climbing in inverted strained positions.  Tarse very stout, longer than any toe or nail.  Toes short, unequal, depressed, basally connected, the hind stoutest and exceeding the inner fore.  Nails very falcate and acute.  Wings short, feeble, the first four primaries much graduated, the four next subequal.  Tail medial, simple, firm.   Type St. nigriceps.  Sylvan, shy; creeps among foliage, buds and flowers, like Zosterops and Orthotomus; feeds on minute hard insects and their eggs and larvæ." (Hodgson 1844).
Var. Stachyrhis, Strachyrhis, Strachyris.
Synon. Cilathora, Heterorhynchus, Nigravis, Sphenocichla, Stachyrirhynchus, Thringorhina.

poliocephala / poliocephalum
Gr. πολιος polios  grey, grizzled, hoary, whitish, white; -κεφαλος -kephalos  -headed  < κεφαλη kephalē  head.