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 were formerly placed in the genera Turdoides and Garrulax.
Taxonomy Most of the species now placed in the genus Argya were previously assigned to the genus Turdoides. Following the publication of a molecular phylogenetic study in 2018, Turdoides was split and species were moved to the resurrected genus Argya that had been erected by the French naturalist René Lesson in 1831. The name is from the Latin argutus meaning "noisy". Lesson did not specify a type species but this was designated as the Arabian babbler (Argya squamiceps) by the English zoologist George Robert Gray in 1855.
The following cladogram showing the phylogenetic relationships between the species is based on a study by Alice Cibois and collaborators that was published in 2018. The Iraq babbler (Argya altirostris) and the orange-billed babbler (Argya rufescens) were not included in the study. The Afghan babbler (Argya huttoni) has also subsequently been split from the common babbler.
Species The genus contains 16 species: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. Image Common name Scientific name Distribution Large grey babbler Argya malcolmiIndia Ashy-headed laughingthrush Argya cinereifrons Sri Lanka Arabian babbler Argya squamicepsUnited Arab Emirates, Oman, Yemen and western Saudi Arabia Fulvous babbler Argya fulva Algeria, Chad, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Libya, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sudan, and Tunisia. White-throated babbler Argya gularisMyanmar. Striated babbler Argya earleiPakistan to Myanmar. Iraq babbler Argya altirostrisIraq and south-western Iran Common babbler Argya caudataIndia. Afghan babbler Argya huttoni southeastern Iraq to south western Pakistan. Rufous chatterer Argya rubiginosa Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda. Scaly chatterer Argya aylmeriEthiopia, Kenya, Somalia, and Tanzania. Yellow-billed babbler Argya affinis southern India and Sri Lanka. Jungle babbler Argya striata India Orange-billed babbler Argya rufescens Sri Lanka. Slender-billed babbler Argya longirostris Bangladesh, Nepal, Northeast India and possibly Myanmar Rufous babbler Argya subrufa India
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