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Black-lored Babbler Turdoides sharpei 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

24–26 cm; 66–91 g. Resembles T. melanops, but bill shorter, body more streaked, tail not so dark, and underparts with no buff tones; wary. Nominate race has crown, upperparts and upperwing greyish-brown, crown to scapulars lightly scaled or mottled grey (particularly on nape), tail dusky brown; lores to front half of eye blackish-brown, head side plain greyish-brown or pale-mottled dark brown; chin and submoustachial area to breast mouse-grey with pale creamy-grey scales and usually fine brown streaks, belly to vent pale greyish-brown with vague streaking, lower underparts more uniform; iris silvery white or creamy white; bill black; legs dark slaty brown. Sexes similar. Juvenile lacks paler tips on head and neck, has throat and breast less scaly, iris greyer or browner. Race vepres is darker than nominate, with variable creamy white on chin and throat, lower belly often creamy white.

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. melanops. Race vepres moderately distinctive, with its darker overall plumage and usually whiter (sometimes pure white) throat and belly, but these latter characters highly variable. Proposed race clamosus (Rift Valley in Kenya) merged with nominate. Two subspecies recognized.

Subspecies

EBIRD GROUP (MONOTYPIC)

Black-lored Babbler (Sharpe's) Turdoides sharpei sharpei Scientific name definitions

Turdoides sharpei sharpei
T. s. sharpei

Distribution

extreme E DRCongo, Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda (except N), SW Kenya and NW and W Tanzania.
EBIRD GROUP (MONOTYPIC)

Black-lored Babbler (Nanyuki) Turdoides sharpei vepres Scientific name definitions

Turdoides sharpei vepres
T. s. vepres

Distribution

Nanyuki area, on slopes of Mt Kenya (C Kenya).

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

Forest-edge thickets and scrub, wooded plains and acacia savanna, dense bushland, riverine woodland, elephant grass, gardens; where sympatric with T. plebejus, appears to prefer more open areas. Found at up to 2425 m; 1000–2200 m in Kenya, but chiefly 1500–1900 m.

Movement

Resident. Recorded in all months in Kampala region of Uganda, but sometimes unaccountably absent for weeks or months.

Diet and Foraging

Mainly invertebrates, also small reptiles and small fruits. Forages in trees (higher up than T. plebejus), tall grass and shrubbery, coming on to lawns to probe for insects and bounding after termites (Isoptera); creeps about near ground. Usually in parties of 2–10, mainly 4–5, individuals, occasionally in company with other babbler species; also sometimes with Lamprotornis glossy starlings, Crested Francolins (Dendroperdix sephaena) and ground-foraging Nubian Woodpeckers (Campethera nubica), wood-hoopoes (Phoeniculus) and Crowned Hornbills (Lophoceros alboterminatus).

Sounds and Vocal Behavior

Chorus song a babbling “chookááh-chookááh-chookááh…”, having slightly insane and hilarious laughing quality. Calls loud and harsh: contact a high grating “skaaa” or long, downslurring “skaaayaaa” or “nee-yeah”; also has nasal “pa-pa-pa”, sometimes combined into chatter of same petulant quality, a hoarse nasal “wha-u”, and in alarm a cat-like “nyaaa”.

Breeding

Apr–Sept (peak Apr–May) in Uganda, Mar–Dec in Kenya and Mar–Jun in Tanzania. Co-operative breeder. Nest a rather untidy cup made of roots and creeper stems, twigs and grass stems, lined with fine grass roots, creeper stems or other softer materials, placed in dense bush or large isolated bush covered with dead creepers. Clutch 2–3 eggs, dark blue or greenish-blue; nestlings attended and fed by all members of group. No information on incubation and nesting periods. Aggressive towards Levaillant’s Cuckoo (Clamator levaillantii), which presumably parasitizes nests of present species.

Conservation Status

Conservation status on Birdlife LC Least Concern
Not globally threatened. Locally common in DRCongo; widespread in Rwanda and Burundi; widespread also in Uganda, where present in Murchison Falls National Park; locally common in Kenya, although now vanished from Kikuyu and Mt Nyiru; widespread in Tanzania W of 33º E, with old records from Serengeti National Park.
Distribution of the Black-lored Babbler - Range Map
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Distribution of the Black-lored Babbler

eBird and Macaulay Library

Recommended Citation

Collar, N. and C. Robson (2020). Black-lored Babbler (Turdoides sharpei), 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.bklbab1.01
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