• Summary
• Text account
• Data table and detailed info
• Range map
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Taxonomic note

Previously placed in Turdoides (del Hoyo and Collar 2016) but moved to current genus following Cai et al. (2019) - although this taxon was not included in that analysis, the frequent treatment of this taxon and A. striata as one species (as previously here, following Sibley and Monroe [1990, 1993]) suggests it also belongs in Argya.
Differs from A. striata in its vaguely scalloped vs vaguely streaked breast (2); black edges to primaries forming bold black panel on closed wing (3); stronger rufous tinge to lower underparts and buffy-rufous vs pale grey rump (2); parapatric distribution or very narrow zone of hybridization (assume latter; score 2) with A. s. malabarica in S of range. Monotypic.

Taxonomic source(s)
Handbook of the Birds of the World and BirdLife International. 2021. Handbook of the Birds of the World and BirdLife International digital checklist of the birds of the world. Version 6. Available at: https://datazone.birdlife.org/userfiles/file/Species/Taxonomy/HBW-BirdLife_Checklist_v6_Dec21.zip.

Red List criteria met

Critically Endangered	Endangered	Vulnerable
-	-	-

Red List history

Year	Category	Criteria
2024	Least Concern
2016	Least Concern
2012	Not Recognised
2008	Not Recognised
2004	Not Recognised
2000	Not Recognised
1994	Not Recognised
1988	Not Recognised

Migratory status	not a migrant	Forest dependency	does not normally occur in forest
Land-mass type		Average mass	-

	Estimate	Data quality
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident)	34,200 km2
Severely fragmented?	no	-

	Estimate	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Population size	unknown	-	-	-
Population trend	stable	-	suspected	-
Generation length	3.62 years	-	-	-

Population justification: The global population size has not been quantified, but the species is described as common (del Hoyo et al. 2007). The population is suspected to be stable in the absence of evidence for any current declines or substantial threats.

Trend justification: The population is suspected to be stable in the absence of evidence for any current declines or substantial threats.

Country/Territory	Presence	Origin	Resident	Breeding visitor	Non-breeding visitor	Passage migrant
India	extant	native	yes

Country/Territory	IBA Name

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Artificial/Terrestrial	Plantations	suitable	resident
Artificial/Terrestrial	Rural Gardens	suitable	resident
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Dry	suitable	resident
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Moist Lowland	suitable	resident
Shrubland	Subtropical/Tropical Moist	suitable	resident
Altitude	0 - 1525 m	Occasional altitudinal limits	(max) 1830 m

Purpose	Scale
Food - human	subsistence, national
Pets/display animals, horticulture	international

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2025) Species factsheet: Black-winged Babbler Argya somervillei. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/black-winged-babbler-argya-somervillei on 14/01/2025.
Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2025) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/search on 14/01/2025.