How do you identify a Black-faced Babbler?

Black-faced babblers are 21 to 25 cm (8.5 to 10 in) long. Full identification notes are on this page.

How big is a Black-faced Babbler?

The Black-faced Babbler is a medium sized bird weighing about 77 g.

Where can you see a Black-faced Babbler?

The Black-faced Babbler occurs in 4 countries, including Namibia, Botswana and Angola.

What birds look similar to a Black-faced Babbler?

The Black-faced Babbler is most easily confused with the Scaly Babbler, the Spiny Babbler and the Hinde's Babbler.

Is the Black-faced Babbler endangered?

The Black-faced Babbler is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List.

Black-faced Babbler

Turdoides melanops

Laughingthrushes and Allies · Passeriformes · Rare

The Black-faced Babbler (Turdoides melanops) is a rare laughingthrush found in 4 countries, weighing about 77 g. The black-faced babbler is a species of songbird in the family Leiothrichidae.

Least ConcernRareEats omnivorewoodlandcup nest77 g

Black-faced Babbler (Turdoides melanops), photo 1 — Photo: scaup · http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Black-faced Babbler (Turdoides melanops), photo 2 — Photo: Johannes S. · http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Black-faced Babbler (Turdoides melanops), photo 3 — Photo: Stefan Wolmarans · http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Black-faced Babbler (Turdoides melanops), photo 4 — Photo: Kellen P.J. van der · http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/

Black-faced Babbler (Turdoides melanops), photo 5 — Photo: Kellen P.J. van der · http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/

Black-faced Babbler (Turdoides melanops), photo 6 — Photo: Kellen P.J. van der · http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/

Black-faced Babbler (Turdoides melanops), photo 7 — Photo: Kellen P.J. van der · http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/

Black-faced Babbler (Turdoides melanops), photo 8 — Photo: (c) scaup, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC-BY

Black-faced Babbler (Turdoides melanops), photo 9 — Photo: (c) Johannes S., some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC-BY

Black-faced Babbler (Turdoides melanops), photo 10 — Photo: (c) Stefan Wolmarans, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC-BY

About the Black-faced Babbler

The black-faced babbler is a species of songbird in the family Leiothrichidae. It was once it was considered conspecific with the black-lored babbler, A. sharpei.

Text adapted from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

How to identify it

Black-faced babblers are 21 to 25 cm (8.5 to 10 in) long. Birds are largely grayish brown with geographically and individually variable white mottling, especially below. The combination of pale yellow or white eyes and black lores (the areas between the eye and the bill) separates this species from similar babblers, though all juvenile babblers have brown eyes. The calls are described as "A nasal 'wha-wha-wha' and a harsh, fast 'papapapa'."

Where it lives

Namibia Botswana Angola

Recorded as a rare visitor in Kenya.

When to see it

Best months: March, April, July, August, September, October, November, December, with peak activity in November. It is a variable species across most of its range.

Easily confused with

Quick questions

How do you identify a Black-faced Babbler?: Black-faced babblers are 21 to 25 cm (8.5 to 10 in) long. Full identification notes are on this page.
How big is a Black-faced Babbler?: The Black-faced Babbler is a medium sized bird weighing about 77 g.
Where can you see a Black-faced Babbler?: The Black-faced Babbler occurs in 4 countries, including Namibia, Botswana and Angola.
What birds look similar to a Black-faced Babbler?: The Black-faced Babbler is most easily confused with the Scaly Babbler, the Spiny Babbler and the Hinde's Babbler.
Is the Black-faced Babbler endangered?: The Black-faced Babbler is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List.

Learn the Black-faced Babbler for real

BeakBrain drills you on photos and calls until you can greet this bird by name in the field. Free to play, on any device.

Play BeakBrain

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