Black-lored Babbler

Open encyclopedia reference

The black-lored babbler or Sharpe's pied-babbler (Turdoides sharpei) is a species of bird in the family Leiothrichidae. It is found in southwestern Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Burundi, Rwanda, and the part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo immediately adjacent to the three last-named countries. This bird was formerly considered the same species as Turdoides melanops of southern Africa, now known as the black-faced babbler. These birds are mostly grey-brown with white mottling, especially on the underparts, that varies according to location and the individual. The population near Nanyuki, Kenya, is darker but can have a pure white chin or entire throat. The combination of pale yellow or white eyes and black lores (the areas between the eye and the bill) separates adults of this species from similar babblers except melanops, though all juvenile babblers have brown eyes. In Kenya, single birds give repeated single or double harsh notes such as waaach or a muffled kurr-ack; pairs or groups give longer phrases in chorus. The tempo is frequently slow for a babbler.

Wikipedia contributors, Black-lored babbler; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T07:36:55.284899+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name

Turdoides sharpei (Reichenow, 1891)

Name authority

(Reichenow, 1891)

Common name

Black-lored 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.

1. domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
2. kingdomAnimalia
3. phylumChordata
4. subphylumVertebrata
5. infraphylumGnathostomata
6. parvphylumOsteichthyes
7. megaclassTetrapoda
8. classAves
9. orderPasseriformes
10. familyLeiothrichidae Swainson, 1832
11. genusTurdoides Cretzschmar, 1826
12. speciesTurdoides sharpei (Reichenow, 1891)

Close classified relatives

These entries share the source’s genus, Turdoides. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.

Browse 113 records assigned to Leiothrichidae.

Names & synonyms

Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.

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.

1. https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=563557 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:59PKG. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.