''Turdoides'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

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 are distinguished from other orders of birds by t ...

birds in the laughingthrush family

Leiothrichidae The laughingthrushes are a family, Leiothrichidae, of Old World passerine birds. They are diverse in size and coloration. These are birds of tropical areas, with the greatest variety in Southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent. The entire fam ...

. The species are distributed across

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

and southern

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

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 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 p ...

'' 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 science, natural scientist. Cretzschmar was born at Sulzbach, Hesse, Sulzbach and studied medicine at the University of Würzburg. He taught anatomy and z ...

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

Turdus True thrushes are medium-sized mostly insectivorous or omnivorous birds in the genus ''Turdus'' of the wider thrush family, Turdidae. The genus name ''Turdus'' is Latin for "thrush". The term " thrush" is used for many other birds of the family T ...

'' with the

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

''-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 The blackcap babbler (''Turdoides reinwardtii'') is a member of the family Leiothrichidae. These are birds of tropical areas, with the greatest variety in southeast Asia. The blackcap babbler is a common resident breeding bird in west Africa fro ...

, ''Turdoides reinwardtii'' * Dusky babbler, ''Turdoides tenebrosa'' * Southern pied babbler, ''Turdoides bicolor'' * Northern pied babbler, ''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 Co ...

, ''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 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 "unispec ...

''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. T ...

'', Vol. 12. Picathartes to Tits and Chickadees. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. {{Taxonbar, from=Q2104600 Bird genera Leiothrichidae Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Taxa named by Philipp Jakob Cretzschmar