Spiny Babbler
Photo: Sangyam adventurer · CC BY-SA 4.0

Laughingthrushes and Allies

Spiny Babbler

Turdoides nipalensis

LCLeast Concern Endemic to Nepal
Family
Laughingthrushes and Allies (Leiothrichidae)
Order
Passeriformes

Overview

The spiny babbler (Turdoides nipalensis) is a species of bird in the family Leiothrichidae. Found only in the Middle Hills of Nepal, it can for example be seen around the Kathmandu valley, specifically around the Godavari and Phulchoki area close to the city of Lalitpur.
Also known locally as the Kande Bhyakur, literally translated "thorny bird". It was first scientifically described by Brian Houghton Hodgson in the mid-19th century, then never seen again and even feared extinct until famously rediscovered by Sidney Dillon Ripley, an American ornithologist, in the late 1940s.

Summary from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Where to see it

Destination guides featuring this bird

Range and habitat

Himalayas of western and central Nepal.

Range description: AviList Global Avian Checklist.

Continents

Countries

Sources and further reading

Last updated September 29, 2026.