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 species have drab brown or grey-brown plumage. Several species that were included in Turdoides in the past have been reassigned to Argya following a 2018 study that found multiple clades.
The genus Turdoides was introduced in 1826 by the German physician Philipp Jakob Cretzschmar specifically for the white-headed babbler. The name combines the thrush genus Turdus with the Ancient Greek -oidēs meaning "resembling".
Species The genus contains the following 19 species:
Image Scientific name Common name Distribution Turdoides nipalensis Spiny babbler Nepal Turdoides atripennis Capuchin babbler African tropical rainforest Turdoides gilberti White-throated mountain babbler Cameroonian Highlands forests Turdoides chapini Chapin's babbler western foothills of Albertine Rift montane forests Turdoides rufocinctus Red-collared babbler Albertine Rift montane forests Turdoides plebejus Brown babbler northern sub-Saharan Africa Turdoides leucopygia White-rumped babbler Horn of Africa Turdoides hindei Hinde's babbler Kenya Turdoides squamulata Scaly babbler riverine and coastal Horn of Africa : Tana, Jubba and Shebelle rivers Turdoides jardineii Arrow-marked babbler central/southern sub-Saharan Africa Turdoides gymnogenys Bare-cheeked babbler western Angola and northern Namibia Turdoides leucocephala White-headed babbler eastern Sudan, western Ethiopia and Eritrea Turdoides reinwardtii Blackcap babbler West Africa to southern CAF Turdoides tenbrosa Dusky babbler western, eastern and southern South Sudanand adjacent areas Turdoides bicolor Southern pied babbler Kalahari Basin Turdoides hartlaubii Hartlaub's babbler central-southern sub-Saharan Africa Turdoides sharpei Black-lored babbler Lake Victoria basin Turdoides melanops Black-faced babbler southern Angola, northern Namibia and Botswana Turdoides hypoleuca Northern pied babbler Kenya and Tanzania
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, Vol. 12. Picathartes to Tits and Chickadees. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona.