NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Blackcap Babbler
Turdoides reinwardtii (Swainson, 1831)
Source-backed taxonomic record
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
The blackcap babbler (Turdoides reinwardtii) is a member of the family Leiothrichidae.
The blackcap babbler is a common resident breeding bird in west Africa from Senegal to Cameroon. Its habitat is thick scrub and forest. This species, like most babblers, is not migratory, and has short rounded wings and a weak flight.
It builds its cup-shaped nest in a tree, concealed in dense masses of foliage. The normal clutch is two or three eggs.
These birds have dark grey-brown upperparts. The head is brownish black with a white throat and conspicuous white eye ring. The underparts are white, mottled on the breast and with buff flanks.
The blackcap babbler lives in flocks of four to twelve or more, which help to raise the young communally. It is a noisy bird, and the presence of a flock may generally be known at some distance by the continual chattering, squeaking and chirping produced by its members. The main call is a cha-ka-ta. It feeds mainly on insects, but also eats fruit.
The binomial commemorates the botanist Caspar Georg Carl Reinwardt.
Wikipedia contributors, Blackcap babbler; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T05:25:01.000213+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Turdoides reinwardtii (Swainson, 1831)
- Name authority
- (Swainson, 1831)
- Common name
- Blackcap Babbler
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Leiothrichidae
- Genus
- Turdoides
- Extinction status
- Recorded extant
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classAves
- orderPasseriformes
- familyLeiothrichidae Swainson, 1832
- genusTurdoides Cretzschmar, 1826
- speciesTurdoides reinwardtii (Swainson, 1831)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Turdoides. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Hartlaub's BabblerTurdoides hartlaubii (Barboza du Bocage, 1868) | LeiothrichidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Northern Pied BabblerTurdoides hypoleuca (Cabanis, 1878) | LeiothrichidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Arrow-marked BabblerTurdoides jardineii (A. Smith, 1836) | LeiothrichidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| White-rumped BabblerTurdoides leucopygia (Rüppell, 1837) | LeiothrichidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Dusky BabblerTurdoides tenebrosa (Hartlaub, 1883) | LeiothrichidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Spiny BabblerTurdoides nipalensis (Hodgson, 1836) | LeiothrichidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Chapin's BabblerTurdoides chapini (Schouteden, 1949) | LeiothrichidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| White-throated Mountain BabblerTurdoides gilberti (Serle, 1949) | LeiothrichidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Southern Pied BabblerTurdoides bicolor (Jardine, 1831) | LeiothrichidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Hinde's BabblerTurdoides hindei (Sharpe, 1900) | LeiothrichidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| White-headed BabblerTurdoides leucocephala Cretzschmar, 1826 | LeiothrichidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Black-faced BabblerTurdoides melanops (Hartlaub, 1867) | LeiothrichidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Crateropus reinwardtii Swainson, 1831 Swainson, 1831 | synonym |
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=563554 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:59PKC. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.