Babblers and Allies
The Babbler clade includes Babblers (Timaliidae), Ground Babblers (Pellorneidae), White-eyes (Zosteropidae) and Laughingthrushes (Leiothrichidae) are part of Sylvioidea placed in Order Passeriformes, see Taxonomy note below. Their size ranges from the very small to medium-sized birds. These families generally inhabit wooded areas.
Babblers, White-eyes and Laughingthrushes
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Babblers, White-eyes, and Laughingthrushes Notes
All featured species are ‘Red List 2019’ assessed as ‘Least Concern’ except for the ‘Near Threatened’ White-chested Babbler and Chestnut-capped Laughingthrush. I think the White-Chested Babbler is an immature bird. Silvereyes are Australasian endemics; the first time I encountered this species was in the Dunedin Botanic Gardens in New Zealand. It is the nominate race. Featured subspecies: Zosterops lateralis vegetus and Z.i. pinarochrous photographed in Queensland and South Australia respectively.
White-eyes, Babblers and Laughingthrushes Taxonomy
The figure shows a simplified taxonomy family tree relevant to Babblers, White-eyes, and Laughingthrushes photo album.
J Boyd’s Taxonomy in Flux Checklist places these families in Sylvioidea, which comprises:
(a) Babblers (Timaliidae),
(b) Ground Babblers (Pellorneidae),
(c) White-eyes (Zosteropidae),
(d) and Laughingthrushes (Leiothrichidae).
Sylvioidea includes many existing families in the Sibley and Monroe and other authorities’ checklists.
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