Black-crowned barwing

The colouration in black-crowned barwings is similar between the sexes.[4] They have a grey head and nape, black crown and lore (space between eye and beak), white eye rings, dark brown irises, and dark beak with a flesh coloured tip.[4] Its throat is streaked with black-brown on a base of rufous-orange that matches the breast and belly area.[4] The posterior parts of the body (mantle, back, rump, and uppertail coverts) are olive-brown with indistinct dark bars.[3][4] The wings have fine bars on the scapulars (upper wing section) and black-brown with chestnut or orange-buff bars on most of the flight feathers (primaries and secondaries).[4] Their long tail is graduated chestnut with white tips and broad black bars.[4]

[See External Links for Images.]

The lengths are approximately:[3]

• Upper beak (culmen) = 17.5mm
• Leg length (starting from under the knees) = 31mm
• Single wing length (measured from chord to mass) = 89mm
• Tail-length = 133mm

Most observations were of singing birds since they are easily identified through song and were responsive to playbacks, which was a commonly used technique.[3] They call the most in early morning, decreasing through the day, which could be caused by rainfall reducing their activity.[3]

They have two distinctive calls:

• One of the calls begins with a male or female giving two or three "wa" wails that sound cat-like with the first note always weakest and the second note stronger.[3] After 5-20 calls from the initiator, the second bird responds with five or six short notes with overall same length and pitch.[3]
• The other call lasts for as long as the first bird continues and includes antiphonal duets, where males and females respond to each other differently.[3] Pairs were also spotted sitting side-by-side mutually preening between their calls.[3]

Their diet is not well known, but they are suspected to be insectivores that also eat vegetation.[7] The bird is often seen foraging alone or with a partner around the smaller branches of tree canopy, trunk, and along larger moss-covered branches.[3][4]

Mates are first attracted through calling, then move to small branches in shrubs while perching close or against each other.[8] The male displays by raising his crest and half-fanning his feathers while the female opens her wings less frequently and leans steeply over her perch.[8] They preen each other briefly and rapidly with light pecking, while switching positions.[8] Instances of copulating or almost copulating involved the birds swinging full circle around a branch where their tail-bases would briefly touch while moving downwards.[8] This behaviour is not known in barwings, but is more common in babblers (family Timaliidae).[8]

Generation lengths are around 5.5 years.[6]

Eggs and nest are undescribed.[4]