Kingdom Animalia Family Timaliidae Phylum Chordata Order Passerine | Class Aves Scientific name Micromacronus Rank Genus | |
Similar Visayan miniature babbler, Mindanao miniature babbler, Visayan pygmy babbler, Kupeornis, Grey‑sided scimitar babbler | ||
Micromacronus is a bird genus in the babbler family Timaliidae endemic to the Philippines. Long considered to be monotypic, its members are known as miniature babblers or miniature tit-babblers. As the scientific as well as the common names indicate, their habitus resembles a diminutive version of the tit-babblers (Macronus). The genus was only described in 1962, upon the description of the first species, which had been collected by collector Manuel Celestino and Godofredo Alcasid, a zoologist at the Philippine National Museum.
The genus contains just two species; the Visayan miniature babbler, Micromacronus leytensis, and the Mindanao miniature babbler, Micromacronus sordidus. The two species in the genus have sometimes been treated as a single species. The Visayan miniature babbler is found on the islands of Samar, Leyte and Biliran in the central Philippines, whereas the Mindanao miniature babbler is restricted to Mindanao only.