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Turdoides
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Black-faced Babbler Turdoides melanops 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

25 cm; 75–78 g. Medium-sized dull grey-brown Turdoides babbler with grey-flecked crown, pale eye, lightly scaled breast and black tail. Nominate race has forecrown to above eyes silvery greyish-brown with fine white streaks, hindcrown to back and scapulars dull grey-tinged brown, rump paler, tail blackish-brown; upperwing brown, flight-feathers darker; cheek and ear-coverts greyish-brown with fine white streaks, lores blackish-brown, neck side pale grey-brown with buffy-grey scales; chin and throat silvery brownish-grey, upper breast mid-brown with narrow buff scaling, lower breast to lower belly pale yellowish-buff with vague mid-brown streaks, flanks, thighs and vent plainer and darker; iris pale yellow to greenish-yellow or creamy white; bill black; legs slaty black. Sexes similar. Juvenile is paler and less clearly marked than adult, with brown iris. Race angolensis is shorter-billed than nominate, with slightly less grey on forehead; querula is smaller, darker and greyer, darker-faced, with upper throat greyer, less warm buff on underparts.

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.

Often treated as conspecific with T. sharpei, and even thought to be perhaps conspecific with T. tenebrosa and T. reinwardtii. Race angolensis sometimes subsumed within nominate. Three subspecies recognized.

Subspecies

SUBSPECIES

Turdoides melanops melanops Scientific name definitions

Distribution

SW Angola and n Namibia
SUBSPECIES

Turdoides melanops querula Scientific name definitions

Distribution

SE Angola, NW Botswana and NE Namibia (Caprivi Strip).

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

Underlying creepers, thickets and secondary growth in understorey of dense Acacia and corkwood (Commiphora) savanna, Zambezi teak (Baikiaea plurijuga) or purple-pod (Terminalia pruinoides) woodland, particularly where grass grows tall under high canopy; also dry bush, riverine thickets, transition zone between acacia savanna and Brachystegia woodland, and camelthorn woodland with profuse grass and scattered low thickets. At relatively low elevations.

Movement

Resident.

Diet and Foraging

Insects, small reptiles and some fruit. Forages low down in grass and on ground, often using the bill to toss aside leaves. Found in small groups of 5–7 individuals, occasionally up to 15.

Sounds and Vocal Behavior

Chorus song a nasal chattering “wha-wha-wha-wha-what…”, “jeu jeu jeu jeu” or faster “papapapapapapapapa”, all rising to a crescendo. Calls include cat-like “wha-u” and “waaaaaaa” yells, bleating squeaks, low “juk” and “jerk” notes, high “jizi-jizi-jizi…” and, from sentinel, quiet “cull” every 2–3 seconds.

Breeding

Nov–Jan in Angola and Oct–Dec and Mar in Namibia. Co-operative breeder, with up to four helpers at nest. Nest a rough bowl of grass, lined with finer fibres, placed 1·5–5 m above ground in upper outer branches of tree or large shrub. Clutch 2–3 eggs, deep greyish-turquoise. No other information.

Conservation Status

Conservation status on Birdlife LC Least Concern
Not globally threatened. Uncommon to locally common. Common along at least part of R Cunene, in Angola; present in Etosha National Park, in Namibia; uncommon to locally common in small range in Botswana.
Distribution of the Black-faced Babbler - Range Map
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  • Year-round
  • Migration
  • Breeding
  • Non-Breeding
Distribution of the Black-faced Babbler

eBird and Macaulay Library

Recommended Citation

Collar, N. and C. Robson (2020). Black-faced Babbler (Turdoides melanops), 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.bkfbab1.01
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