The spiny babbler (''Turdoides nipalensis''; ne, काँडे भ्याकुर) is a species of

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweig ...

in the 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 fami ...

. Found only in the Middle Hills of Nepal, it can for example be seen around the

Kathmandu , pushpin_map = Nepal Bagmati Province#Nepal#Asia , coordinates = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = , subdivision_type1 = Provinces of Nepal, Province , subdivision_name1 ...

valley, specifically around the Godavari and Phulchoki area close to the city of Lalitpur. Also known locally as the ''Kande Bhyakur'', literally translated "thorny bird". It was first scientifically described by

Brian Houghton Hodgson Brian Houghton Hodgson (1 February 1800 or more likely 1801 – 23 May 1894) was a pioneer naturalist and ethnologist working in India and Nepal where he was a British Resident. He described numerous species of birds and mammals from the Hi ...

in the mid-19th century, then never seen again and even feared extinct until famously rediscovered by

Sidney Dillon Ripley Sidney Dillon Ripley II (September 20, 1913 – March 12, 2001) was an American ornithologist and wildlife conservationist. He served as secretary of the Smithsonian Institution for 20 years, from 1964 to 1984, leading the institution through ...

, an American ornithologist, in the late 1940s. It is predominantly a shy bird but can be seen in the early breeding season when the males sing out in the open. It lives in dense scrubs and mounts branches of bushes and small trees to sing. It is threatened by the clearance of scrub for agriculture and expansion of urban areas.

References

*Collar, N. J. & Robson, C. 2007. Family Timaliidae ( Spiny 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. ...

'', Vol. 12. Picathartes to Tits and Chickadees. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona.

External links

Spiny babbler (Turdoides nipalensis)
at

eBird eBird is an online database of bird observations providing scientists, researchers and amateur naturalists with real-time data about bird distribution and abundance. Originally restricted to sightings from the Western Hemisphere, the proje ...

.
Spiny babbler (Turdoides nipalensis)
at

Avibase Avibase is an online taxonomic database that organizes bird taxonomic and distribution data globally. At its core, the database relies on the notion of taxonomic concepts. rather than taxonomic names (see also for the rationale of using taxon ...

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2672958 Turdoides Birds of Nepal Birds described in 1836 Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Taxobox binomials not recognized by IUCN