Rail-babbler
Eupetes macrocerus Temminck, 1831
The rail-babbler (Eupetes macrocerus) is a species in the family Eupetidae, order Passeriformes. Recorded adults weigh about 69 g. Its IUCN Red List status is Near Threatened.
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Quick facts about the rail-babbler
- Weight
- 69 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- Not recorded
- Diet
- Invertivoresrc for Diet
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- forestsrc for Habitat
- Young per litter or clutch
- 2src for Young per litter or clutch
- Lifestyle
- Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle
- Migration
- Sedentarysrc for Migration
- Conservation status
- Near Threatened (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
Where does the rail-babbler live?
Not recorded
What is 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.
From the Wikipedia article “Rail-babbler” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Rail-babbler&oldid=1379768368), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
Is the rail-babbler endangered?
The rail-babbler is listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List: it is close to qualifying as threatened.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Near Threatened species.
How is the rail-babbler classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classAves
- orderPasseriformes
- familyEupetidae
- genusEupetes
- SpeciesEupetes macrocerus Temminck, 1831
Synonyms Eupetes macrocercus, Myiotrichas ralloides
Other names and names in other languages (40)
- Malaysian rail-babblerEnglish
- ثرثارة المرعة الماليزيةArabic
- eupetesCatalan
- kosovec chřástalíCzech
- preblyn tlws MalaiaWelsh
- RiksetimalieDanish
- RallenflöterGerman
- longvosta eŭpetoEsperanto
- Zordala colilargaSpanish
- لیکویی یلوهایPersian
- huilujuoksijaFinnish
- malakanloistotimaliFinnish
- Eupète à longue queueFrench
- dugonogi drozdaljCroatian
- maláj guvattimáliaHungarian
- Sipinjur melayuIndonesian
- Spinjur MelayuIndonesian
- Garrulo ralloItalian
- Garrulo ralloide della MalesiaItalian
- クイナチメドリJapanese
- 뜸부기꼬리치레Korean
- malajinė vištelėLithuanian
- RalbabbelaarDutch
- Maleise ralbabbelaarDutch
- Maleise RaltimaliaDutch
- RiksetrastNorwegian Nynorsk
- riksetrostNorwegian
- długobiegPolish
- tordal-raloidePortuguese
- flautista-rabilongoPortuguese
- Пастушковый бегунRussian
- Флейтист-пастушокRussian
- džungliar behavýSlovak
- Drozd petlićSerbian
- ralltrastSwedish
- นกคอสามสีThai
- YelveardıcıTurkish
- флейтист малазійськийUkrainian
- 白眉长颈鸫Chinese
- 桔褐胸善飛鶇Chinese
Relatives of the rail-babbler
Other species in the same order Passeriformes.
House sparrow
Passer domesticus
Common raven
Corvus corax
Eurasian magpie
Pica pica
Common blackbird
Turdus merula
European robin
Erithacus rubecula
Eurasian golden oriole
Oriolus oriolus
CompareRail-babbler vs House sparrowRail-babbler vs Common ravenRail-babbler vs Eurasian magpieRail-babbler vs Common blackbird
Common questions
Answered only where our data holds the answer.
How big is the rail-babbler?
An adult rail-babbler weighs 69 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.
Is the rail-babbler endangered?
The rail-babbler is listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is close to qualifying as threatened.
What kind of animal is the rail-babbler?
The rail-babbler (Eupetes macrocerus) belongs to the family Eupetidae in the order Passeriformes.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds · CC BY 4.0 · v7
Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Rail-babbler (Eupetes macrocerus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/rail-babbler
“Rail-babbler (Eupetes macrocerus).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/rail-babbler.
@misc{rail_babbler_2026,
title = {Rail-babbler (Eupetes macrocerus)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/rail-babbler},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}