The black-browed babbler (Malacocincla perspicillata ) is a songbird species in the family Pellorneidae. The species is endemic to Borneo. Only a single specimen, collected in the nineteenth century was known, until the bird was rediscovered in Borneo during 2020.
The natural habitat of M. perspicillata is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, at altitudes of 200–1,170 m (660–3,840 ft).
Its rediscovery in 2020 solidified the belief that the bird is from southeast Borneo.
The conservation status of M. perspicillata is insufficiently known. Formerly, it was classified as Vulnerable by the IUCN. But new research has shown the lack of reliable information, while on the other hand, some conjectural presumptions have been gleaned from the specimen, opening up new lines of research. Consequently, its status was changed to Data Deficient in 2008. The songbird is threatened by agriculture, logging allowed within protected areas, plantations for rubber and palm oil, and drought fires. Within the next few years, there is risk of near complete loss of dryland lowland forest in Kalimantan.
