{{Short description|Species of bird}} {{Speciesbox | image = Spiny Babbler, Shivapuri Nagarjun NP, Nepal - IMG.sgym.17.jpg | image_caption = Spiny babbler in Shivapuri Nagarjun NP | status = LC | status_system = IUCN3.1 | status_ref = <ref>{{cite iucn|url=https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/22716338/131973007 |title=''Acanthoptila nipalensis'' |author=BirdLife International |author-link=BirdLife International |year=2018 |access-date=3 August 2023}}</ref> | genus = Turdoides | species = nipalensis | authority = (Hodgson, 1836) | synonyms = ''Timalia nipalensis''<br/> ''Acanthoptila nipalensis'' }}

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.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.himalayan-dreams.com/the-spiny-babbler-wings-of-nature|title=The Spiny Babbler-Wings of Nature|last=Dreams|first=Himalayan|access-date=2017-08-15|language=en-gb}}</ref>

It is predominantly a shy bird but can be seen in the early breeding season when the males sing out in the open. It lives in dense scrubs and mounts branches of bushes and small trees to sing.

It is threatened by the clearance of scrub for agriculture and expansion of urban areas.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Status of Nepal's Birds: The National Red List Series Volume 6|publisher=The Zoological Society of London, Regent’s Park, London, NW1 4RY, UK|year=2016|isbn=978-0-900881-75-6|pages=414, 415, 416}}</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}} *Collar, N. J. & Robson, C. 2007. Family Timaliidae ( Spiny Babblers) pp.&nbsp;70 – 291 in; del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A. & Christie, D.A. eds. ''Handbook of the Birds of the World'', Vol. 12. Picathartes to Tits and Chickadees. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona.

==External links== {{Commons category|Turdoides nipalensis}} {{Wikispecies|Turdoides nipalensis}} * [https://ebird.org/species/spibab1 Spiny babbler (Turdoides nipalensis)] at eBird. * [https://avibase.bsc-eoc.org/species.jsp?avibaseid=9295CC661599FAF0 Spiny babbler (Turdoides nipalensis)] at Avibase

{{Taxonbar|from=Q2672958}}

Category:Turdoides Category:Birds of Nepal Category:Endemic birds of the Himalayas Category:Birds described in 1836 Category:Taxa named by Brian Houghton Hodgson Category:Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Category:Taxobox binomials not recognized by IUCN <!-- Turdoides nipalensis -->