Jungle Babbler - Taxonomy and Systematics

Taxonomy and Systematics

The species was described in 1823 under the name of Cossyphus striatus and was based on a specimen from Bengal. There are several named geographically isolated subspecies that show plumage shade differences. Former race rufescens of Sri Lanka is considered a full species. The widely accepted subspecies include:

• striata ( Dumont de Sainte Croix, 1823) which is found over much of northern India south of the Himalayan foothills extending to Bhutan, Assam, Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh and northeastern Andhra Pradesh. The form in parts of Orissa orissae said to be more rufous above is usually subsumed into this.
• sindiana ( Ticehurst, 1920) is a paler desert form that is found in the Indus plains of Pakistan and extends into Rajasthan and the Rann of Kutch in India
• somervillei ( Sykes, 1832) is found in the northern Western Ghats south to the Goa Gap
• malabarica ( Jerdon, 1845) is found in the southern Western Ghats
• orientalis ( Jerdon, 1845) is found in peninsular India east of the Western Ghats

Some older literature can be confusing due to some incorrect usage such as Whistler (1944, Spolia Zeylanica, 23:131), who used the name affinis (which could be confused with Turdoides affinis when intending to indicate the subspecies of striatus found in peninsular India.