Black-faced babbler

Last updated

Black-faced babbler
Black-faced Babbler.jpg
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Leiothrichidae
Genus: Turdoides
Species:
T. melanops
Binomial name
Turdoides melanops
(Hartlaub, 1867)

The black-faced babbler (Turdoides melanops) is a species of songbird in the family Leiothrichidae. It was once it was considered conspecific with the black-lored babbler, A. sharpei.

Contents

As defined here, it occurs in northwestern Botswana, northern Namibia, [2] and Angola. [1] Like other Turdoides, it is found low or on the ground in or near dense woody vegetation, including in cultivated areas. [3]

Description

Black-faced babblers are 21 to 25 cm (8 to 10 inches) long. Birds are largely grayish brown with geographically and individually variable white mottling, especially below. The combination of pale yellow or white eyes and black lores (the areas between the eye and the bill) separates this species from similar babblers, though all juvenile babblers have brown eyes. [2] [3]

The calls are described as "A nasal 'wha-wha-wha' and a harsh, fast 'papapapa'." [2]

Behavior

They forage in leaf litter and are "much more furtive than the other babblers". [2]

Related Research Articles

Jacobin cuckoo Species of bird

The Jacobin cuckoo, pied cuckoo or the pied crested cuckoo, is a member of the cuckoo order of birds that is found in Africa and Asia. It is partially migratory and in India, it has been considered a harbinger of the monsoon rains due to the timing of its arrival. It has been associated with a bird in Indian mythology and poetry, known as the chataka represented as a bird with a beak on its head that waits for rains to quench its thirst.

Jungle babbler Species of bird

The jungle babbler is a member of the family Leiothrichidae found in the Indian subcontinent. They are gregarious birds that forage in small groups of six to ten birds, a habit that has given them the popular name of "Seven Sisters" in urban Northern India, and Saath bhai in Bengali, with cognates in other regional languages which also mean "seven brothers".

Yellow-billed babbler Species of brown-grey bird from southern India and Sri Lanka

The yellow-billed babbler is a member of the family Leiothrichidae endemic to southern India and Sri Lanka. The yellow-billed babbler is a common resident breeding bird in Sri Lanka and southern India. Its habitat is scrub, cultivation and garden land. This species, like most babblers, is not migratory, and has short rounded wings and a weak flight and is usually seen calling and foraging in groups. It is often mistaken for the jungle babbler, whose range overlaps in parts of southern India, although it has a distinctive call and tends to be found in more vegetated habitats. Its name is also confused with Turdoides leucocephala, which is also known as white-headed babbler.

Blackcap babbler Species of bird

The blackcap babbler,, is a member of the family Leiothrichidae. These are birds of tropical areas, with the greatest variety in southeast Asia.

Levaillants cuckoo Species of bird

Levaillant's cuckoo is a cuckoo which is a resident breeding species in Africa south of the Sahara. It is found in bushy habitats. It is a brood parasite, using the nests of bulbuls and babblers. It was named in honour of the French explorer, collector and ornithologist, François Le Vaillant.

Rufous babbler Species of bird

The rufous babbler is an endemic species of bird found in the Western Ghats of southern India of the family Leiothrichidae It is dark brown and long tailed, and is usually seen foraging in noisy groups along open hillsides with a mixture of grass, bracken and forest.

Large grey babbler Species of bird

The large grey babbler is a member of the family Leiothrichidae found across India and far western Nepal. They are locally common in the scrub, open forest and gardenland. They are usually seen in small groups and are easily distinguished from other babblers in the region by their nasal call and the whitish outer feathers to their long tail. It is one of the largest babblers in the region.

White-browed sparrow-weaver Species of bird

The white-browed sparrow-weaver is a predominantly brown, sparrow-sized bird found throughout central and north-central southern Africa. It is found in groups of two to eleven individuals consisting of one breeding pair and other non-reproductive individuals.

Spekes weaver Species of bird

Speke's weaver is a familiar East African songbird.

<i>Turdoides</i> Genus of birds in the family Leiothrichidae

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.

Black-bellied bustard Species of bird

The black-bellied bustard, also known as the black-bellied korhaan, is an African ground-dwelling bird in the bustard family.

White-bellied bustard Species of bird

The white-bellied bustard or white-bellied korhaan is an African species of bustard. It is widespread in sub-Saharan Africa in grassland and open woodland habitats.

Black-cheeked gnateater Species of bird

The black-cheeked gnateater is a species of bird in the family Conopophagidae endemic to Brazil. The male is distinguished by its orange crown, black face and white throat, while the female has brown plumage.

Bearded scrub robin Species of bird

The bearded scrub robin, also known as the eastern bearded scrub robin, is a species of bird in the family Muscicapidae. It is found in eastern and southern Africa.

African hill babbler Species of bird

The African hill babbler is a species of bird in the family Sylviidae.

Arrow-marked babbler Species of bird

The arrow-marked babbler is a species of bird in the family Leiothrichidae. It is native to woodlands in the southern Afrotropics.

Brown babbler Species of bird

The brown babbler 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 Sudan babbler.

Black-lored babbler Species of bird

The black-lored babbler or Sharpe's pied-babbler 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 Congo immediately adjacent to the three last-named countries. This bird was formerly considered the same species as Turdoides melanops of southern Africa, now known as the black-faced babbler.

The swamp grass babbler or swamp prinia is a small bird of the Indian subcontinent. Some authorities consider it a subspecies of the rufous-vented grass babbler.

The black-browed fulvetta is a 15.5 to 16.5 cm long species of passerine bird in the family Alcippeidae. It is found in subtropical or tropical moist montane evergreen forests, adjacent secondary growth and bamboo in Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam.

References

  1. 1 2 BirdLife International (2016). "Turdoides melanops". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2016: e.T22716428A94494822. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22716428A94494822.en . Retrieved 11 November 2021.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Sinclair, Ian; Hockey, Phil & Tarboton, Warwick (2002). Birds of Southern Africa. Princeton University Press. pp. 308–309. ISBN   0-691-09682-1 . Retrieved 4 August 2007.
  3. 1 2 Zimmerman, Dale A.; Turner, Donald A. & Pearson, David J. (1999). Birds of Kenya and Northern Tanzania, Field Guide Edition. Princeton University Press. pp. 196–197, 435. ISBN   0-691-01022-6.