The Afghan babbler (''Argya huttoni'') is a species of

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweig ...

in the family

Leiothrichidae The laughingthrushes are a family, Leiothrichidae, of Old World passerine birds. They are diverse in size and coloration. These are birds of tropical areas, with the greatest variety in Southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent. The entire fami ...

. It is found from southeastern Iraq to south western Pakistan. It was formerly considered a subspecies of the

common babbler The common babbler (''Argya caudata'') is a member of the family of Leiothrichidae. They are found in dry open scrub country mainly in India. Two populations are recognized as subspecies and the populations to the west of the Indus river system a ...

. When compared to the common babbler, the Afghan babbler has a heavier bill and dark streaks on the breast and sides. The vocalizations are also different. The variation is sometimes considered to be clinal but two subspecies have been recognized. The Afghan babbler group includes ''salvadorii'' (De Filippi, 1865) found in Iraq and western Iran and ''huttoni'' (Blyth, 1847) from eastern Iran through Afghanistan east to southwestern Pakistan. The Afghan babbler was formerly placed in the genus ''

Turdoides ''Turdoides'' is a genus of passerine birds in the laughingthrush family Leiothrichidae. The species are distributed across Africa and southern Asia and are typically fairly large, long-tailed birds which forage in noisy groups. The majority of s ...

'' but following the publication of a comprehensive

molecular phylogenetic Molecular phylogenetics () is the branch of phylogeny that analyzes genetic, hereditary molecular differences, predominantly in DNA sequences, to gain information on an organism's evolutionary relationships. From these analyses, it is possible to ...

study in 2018, it was moved to the resurrected genus ''

Argya ''Argya'' is a genus of passerine birds in the family Leiothrichidae. The species are distributed across Africa and southern Asia and are typically fairly large, long-tailed birds that forage in noisy groups. Members of this genus were formerly p ...

''.

References

*Collar, N. J. & Robson, C. 2007. Family Timaliidae (Babblers) pp. 70 – 291 in; del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A. & Christie, D.A. eds. ''

Handbook of the Birds of the World The ''Handbook of the Birds of the World'' (HBW) is a multi-volume series produced by the Spanish publishing house Lynx Edicions in partnership with BirdLife International. It is the first handbook to cover every known living species of bird. ...

'', Vol. 12. Picathartes to Tits and Chickadees. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. {{Taxonbar, from=Q47489639, from2=Q62108480, from3=Q62108471, from4=Q3002228 Afghan babbler Birds of the Middle East Birds of South Asia Birds of Afghanistan Birds of Pakistan Afghan babbler Afghan babbler