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:
Brown babbler, Turdoides plebejus
Bare-cheeked babbler, Turdoides gymnogenys
Arrow-marked babbler, Turdoides jardineii
Scaly babbler, Turdoides squamulata
White-rumped babbler, Turdoides leucopygia
White-headed babbler, Turdoides leucocephala
Blackcap babbler, Turdoides reinwardtii
Dusky babbler, Turdoides tenebrosa
Southern pied babbler, Turdoides bicolor
Northern pied babbler, Turdoides hypoleuca
Black-lored babbler, Turdoides sharpei
Black-faced babbler, Turdoides melanops
Hartlaub's babbler, Turdoides hartlaubii
Hinde's babbler, Turdoides hindei
Spiny babbler, Turdoides nipalensis
White-throated mountain babbler, Turdoides gilberti – previously in Kupeornis
Red-collared babbler, Turdoides rufocinctus – previously in Kupeornis
Chapin's babbler, Turdoides chapini – previously in Kupeornis
Capuchin babbler, Turdoides atripennis – previously in monotypic 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, Vol. 12. Picathartes to Tits and Chickadees. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona.