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Turdoides
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Arrow-marked Babbler Turdoides jardineii Scientific name definitions

Nigel Collar and Craig Robson
Version: 1.0 — Published March 4, 2020
Text last updated January 1, 2007

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Originally Appeared in

HBW Alive

Field Identification

22–25 cm; 56–85 g. Medium-sized Turdoides babbler, dull brownish-grey above, paler below, with distinctive pointed white tips of throat and breast feathers. Nominate race has narrow pointed crown feathers with brownish-black dagger-shaped centres and dull grey-buff edges, shifting to whitish-tipped soft-edged brown and grey-buff feathering on neck side and upper­parts, paler and plainer rump, dark brown upperwing and blackish-brown tail; feathers on superciliary area slightly whiter than on crown, lores blackish, ear-coverts, cheek and sub­mous­tachial area greyish-brown with narrow white tips; chin to upper belly brownish-ashy with elongate pointed (spike-like) white tips, lower belly buffish with barely noticeable white shaft streaks; iris scarlet to crimson, inner ring orange to bright yellow (sometimes reversed); bill black; legs brown to dark slate. Sexes similar. Juvenile is much plainer than adult, with no arrow-shaped marks on chest, iris dark brown. Race hyposticta is small and grey-headed, with greatly reduced white tips of breast feathers; tanganjicae has rather plain blackish crown and face well demarcated from rufescent-tinged plain olive-brown upperparts, underparts as nominate but breast less grey (more concolorous with lower underparts), white tips much narrower and vaguely yellowish-tinged; emini is like nominate, but feathers of head overall blacker, head side browner, underparts as previous but shape of tips mid-way towards nominate; kirkii is like last, but browner above, notably on neck side, crown feathers less pointed and less black, breast greyer (not so much as in nominate) and arrow marks whiter and narrower; tamalakanei resembles previous, but greyer above, lower underparts colder brown; convergens is more buffy olive below than nominate, more streaked on flanks and vent.

Systematics History

Editor's Note: This article requires further editing work to merge existing content into the appropriate Subspecies sections. Please bear with us while this update takes place.

Sometimes treated as conspecific with T. leucocephala and T. plebejus. Race tanganjicae distinctive with its black head, but merges clinally with other races (1). Race convergens sometimes subsumed within nominate. Proposed race kikuyuensis (SW Kenya and adjacent N Tanzania) merged with emini, and natalensis (S Mozambique S to Lesotho) included in nominate. Seven subspecies recognized.

Subspecies

SUBSPECIES

Turdoides jardineii emini Scientific name definitions

Distribution

WC and S Uganda and SW Kenya S to E DRCongo and NW and N Tanzania.
SUBSPECIES

Turdoides jardineii kirkii Scientific name definitions

Distribution

SE Kenya, C, E and SE Tanzania, NE (E part) Zambia, Malawi and N and C Mozambique.
SUBSPECIES

Turdoides jardineii hyposticta Scientific name definitions

Turdoides jardineii hyposticta
T. j. hyposticta

Distribution

S Gabon, S Congo, SW DRCongo and NW Angola.
SUBSPECIES

Turdoides jardineii tanganjicae Scientific name definitions

Turdoides jardineii tanganjicae
T. j. tanganjicae

Distribution

SE DRCongo and NC and NE Zambia.
SUBSPECIES

Turdoides jardineii tamalakanei Scientific name definitions

Distribution

WC and S Angola E to extreme SW Zambia, NE Namibia and N Botswana.
SUBSPECIES

Turdoides jardineii jardineii Scientific name definitions

Distribution

N and e S Africa, s Mozambique, Zimbabwe, c and nw Zambia

Distribution

Editor's Note: Additional distribution information for this taxon can be found in the 'Subspecies' article above. In the future we will develop a range-wide distribution article.

Habitat

Dense thickets in higher-rainfall bush and tree savanna, open woodland underbrush, dry riverine forest edge and reedbeds, bush clumps on termitaria, thorny brush on rocky ground with rank grass, abandoned cultivation in woodland, regenerating bushy growth at edges of cultivation, overgrown abandoned fields, exotic plantations; in N South Africa habitat dominated by tamboti (Spirochastys africana) on sparse grass, or by acacias on extensive grass cover; in Zimbabwe found in open soft woodland with bushes, shrubs and secondary growth, often along watercourses. Occurs at up to 1675 m, occasionally 1830 m; to 2315 m in Rwanda, 2050 m in Malawi.

Movement

Resident; some local displacements. In Uganda, recorded only Jun–Aug in W Nile region; occasional vagrancy reported, e.g. W to R Cunene, in NW Namibia.

Diet and Foraging

Mostly invertebrates up to 35 mm long, including termites (Isoptera), ants (Formicidae), bush-crickets and grasshoppers (Orthoptera), moths and caterpillars (Lepidoptera), beetles (Coleoptera), dipteran flies and their larvae (including tsetse fly) and grubs, also spiders and sun-spiders (Solifugae), and snails; also lizards; also seeds, fruit including loquats (Eriobotrya japonica) and palm nuts (Elaeis guineensis), and nectar (e.g. of Aloe). Larger food items such as certain fruits are held in foot while being eaten. Recorded as coming to garden birdtable, apparently for seeds. Nestlings fed mainly with insects: of 148 food items, 28% grasshoppers, 20% caterpillars. Forages on ground and in lower bushes and undergrowth, fossicking in leaf litter and creeping through lower branches. Usually in parties of 4–8 individuals, range 3–15 (mean 6), even during breeding season. May form mixed parties with T. hartlaubii where ranges overlap; in Mozambique often associates with Terrestrial Brownbul (Phyllastrephus terrestris).

Sounds and Vocal Behavior

Chorus song a harsh nasal chatter, “ra-ra-ra-ra-ra” or “scurr-urr-urr-urr-urr-urr-urr”, usually begun by 1–2 birds calling softly, taken up by others and rising to grating, whirring crescendo and dying away, often a few birds giving low conversational “kuk” and “jigga” notes before new chorus begins. Also a harsh “chak-chak-chak” and “kaa-kaa-kaa” like distant call of Rook (Corvus frugilegus); loud “chow-chow-chow-chow…”, often by several birds together.

Breeding

Mar, May and Aug–Oct in Uganda; mainly Sept–May in Tanzania and Zambia, Sept–Jun (mainly Oct) in Malawi and Sept–Dec in Mozambique; in all months (mainly Sept–Nov) in Zimbabwe; May, Aug–Sept and Nov–Dec in Angola and Oct–Mar (mainly Nov–Jan) in Botswana; Oct–Mar in KwaZulu-Natal, and in all months (peak Sept–Apr) elsewhere in South Africa; groups make two or three nesting attempts per breeding season. Co-operative breeder, but not known if more than one female provides clutch; at one site in South Africa, territories averaged 37 ha (range 10·5–63·5 ha), larger groups defending larger areas. Nest, built by all group-members, a bulky open bowl made of dry flower stems, coarse grass, pieces of reed, roots, twigs, dead or decayed leaves and leaf fronds, lined with fibres, rootlets and tendrils, placed 0·5–7 m up in tree, hedge, flotsam in overhanging branches along rivers, reed tangle, thick bush, creeper tangle around dead stump or tree cavity; old nest of another species sometimes used; new nest built for each breeding attempt. Clutch 2–8 eggs (usually 3), glossy pale greenish-blue or deep turquoise-blue; incubation by all members of group, period variable, 13·5–17 days; chicks fed by parents and helpers, immature helpers tending to provide less feeding, nestling period 18–21 days (shortest when group larger). Significant brood parasitism (7·8% of nests) by Levaillant’s Cuckoo (Clamator levaillantii). Of 13 nests, only three successful; only 8 of 44 eggs resulted in fledging success (uncorrelated with group or territory size).

Conservation Status

Conservation status on Birdlife LC Least Concern
Not globally threatened. Locally common over much of range, and adaptable to habitats partly influenced by man. Often common in Uganda, where present in Bwindi-Impenetrable Forest National Park and Kyambura Wildlife Reserve; locally common in SW Kenya. Uncommon and local in S Gabon and PRCongo; widespread but often uncommon in savannas of S DRCongo; common and widespread in Zambia and in Malawi (in latter common below 1700 m). Common and widespread in Sul do Save, in Mozambique, where national population estimated at more than 20,000 individuals. Fairly common to locally very common in Botswana; common and widespread in Zimbabwe below 1300 m. Common and widespread in NE South Africa, where density in broadleaf Burkea africana woodland in Limpopo Province 8 birds/km², and common in Kruger National Park.
Distribution of the Arrow-marked Babbler - Range Map
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  • Year-round
  • Migration
  • Breeding
  • Non-Breeding
Distribution of the Arrow-marked Babbler

eBird and Macaulay Library

Recommended Citation

Collar, N. and C. Robson (2020). Arrow-marked Babbler (Turdoides jardineii), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.armbab1.01
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