Black-faced babbler

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.

Black-faced babbler

Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Leiothrichidae
Genus: Turdoides
Species:
T. melanops
Binomial name
Turdoides melanops
(Hartlaub, 1867)

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]

References
  1. BirdLife International (2012). "Turdoides melanops". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2012. Retrieved 26 November 2013.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  2. 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. 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.
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