''Turdoides'' is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

passerine A passerine () is any bird of the order Passeriformes (; from Latin 'sparrow' and '-shaped') which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds, passerines generally have an anisodactyl arrangement of their ...

birds in the laughingthrush family

Leiothrichidae The laughingthrushes are a family, Leiothrichidae, of Old World passerine birds. The family contains 133 species and is divided into 16 genera. The species are diverse in size and coloration. These are birds of tropical areas, with the greatest v ...

. The species are distributed across

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

and southern

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

and are typically fairly large, long-tailed birds which forage in noisy groups. The majority of species have drab brown or grey-brown plumage. Several species that were included in ''Turdoides'' in the past have been reassigned to ''

Argya ''Argya'' 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 that forage in noisy groups. Members of this genus ...

'' following a 2018 study that found multiple clades. The

''Turdoides'' was introduced in 1826 by the German physician

Philipp Jakob Cretzschmar Philipp Jakob Cretzschmar (11 June 1786 – 4 May 1845) was a German physician and natural scientist. Cretzschmar was born at Sulzbach and studied medicine at the University of Würzburg. He taught anatomy and zoology at the Senckenberg Medica ...

specifically for the white-headed babbler. The name combines the thrush genus ''

Turdus ''Turdus'' is a genus of medium-sized mostly insectivorous or omnivorous birds in the wider thrush family, Turdidae. The genus name ''Turdus'' is Latin for 'thrush'. Most of the species are called thrushes; the term thrush is also used for man ...

'' with the

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...

''-oidēs'' meaning "resembling".

Species

The genus contains the following 19 species: *

Brown babbler The brown babbler (''Turdoides plebejus'') is a species of bird in the family Leiothrichidae. It is predominantly found in West Africa, but ranging from the Gambia to Kenya. The species is common across its range. The species is also known as the ...

, ''Turdoides plebejus'' * Bare-cheeked babbler, ''Turdoides gymnogenys'' *

Arrow-marked babbler The arrow-marked babbler (''Turdoides jardineii'') is a species of bird in the family Leiothrichidae. It is native to woodlands in the southern Afrotropics. Distribution and habitat It is found in Angola, Botswana, Burundi, Republic of the Congo ...

, ''Turdoides jardineii'' *

Scaly babbler The scaly babbler (''Turdoides squamulata'') is a species of bird in the family Leiothrichidae. It is found in Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somalia. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forest and subtropical or tropical dry shrubland. R ...

, ''Turdoides squamulata'' * White-rumped babbler, ''Turdoides leucopygia'' * White-headed babbler, ''Turdoides leucocephala'' *

Blackcap babbler The blackcap babbler (''Turdoides reinwardtii'') is a member of the family Leiothrichidae. The blackcap babbler is a common resident breeding bird in west Africa from Senegal to Cameroon. Its habitat is thick scrub and forest. This species, like ...

, ''Turdoides reinwardtii'' * Dusky babbler, ''Turdoides tenebrosa'' *

Southern pied babbler The southern pied babbler (''Turdoides bicolor'') is a species of bird in the family Leiothrichidae, found in dry savannah of Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, and Zimbabwe. Description The southern pied babbler is a medium-sized cooperatively b ...

, ''Turdoides bicolor'' *

Northern pied babbler The northern pied babbler (''Turdoides hypoleuca'') is a species of bird in the family Leiothrichidae. It is found in Kenya and Tanzania. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest and subtropical or tropical dry shrub ...

, ''Turdoides hypoleuca'' *

Black-lored babbler The black-lored babbler or Sharpe's pied-babbler (''Turdoides sharpei'') is a species of bird in the family Leiothrichidae. It is found in southwestern Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Burundi, Rwanda, and the part of the Democratic Republic of the Cong ...

, ''Turdoides sharpei'' * Black-faced babbler, ''Turdoides melanops'' *

Hartlaub's babbler Hartlaub's babbler (''Turdoides hartlaubii'') or the Angola babbler, is a species of bird in the family Leiothrichidae, which is native to south central Africa. The common name and Latin binomial commemorate the German physician and ornithologist ...

, ''Turdoides hartlaubii'' *

Hinde's babbler Hinde's babbler (''Turdoides hindei''), also known as Hinde's pied-babbler, is a species of bird in the family Leiothrichidae. It is endemic to Kenya. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist shrubland, arable land, and plantation ...

, ''Turdoides hindei'' *

Spiny babbler The spiny babbler (''Turdoides nipalensis'') is a species of bird in the family Leiothrichidae. Found only in the Middle Hills of Nepal, it can for example be seen around the Kathmandu valley, specifically around the Godavari and Phulchoki area ...

, ''Turdoides nipalensis'' * White-throated mountain babbler, ''Turdoides gilberti'' – previously in ''Kupeornis'' *

Red-collared babbler The red-collared babbler (''Turdoides rufocinctus''), also known as the red-collared mountain-babbler, is a passerine bird in the family Leiothrichidae. It is native to the Albertine Rift montane forests. It is threatened by habitat loss. The ...

, ''Turdoides rufocinctus'' – previously in ''Kupeornis'' * Chapin's babbler, ''Turdoides chapini'' – previously in ''Kupeornis'' *

Capuchin babbler The capuchin babbler (''Turdoides atripennis'') is a species of bird in the family Leiothrichidae. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest. It has a disjunct range across the western and northern parts of the African ...

, ''Turdoides atripennis'' – previously in

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unisp ...

''Phyllanthus''

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. {{Authority control Bird genera Leiothrichidae Birds of Sub-Saharan Africa Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Taxa named by Philipp Jakob Cretzschmar