The southern pied babbler (Turdoides bicolor) is a species of bird in the family Leiothrichidae, found in dry savannah of Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, and Zimbabwe.

The southern pied babbler is a medium-sized 75 to 95 grams (2.6 to 3.4 oz) cooperatively breeding passerine bird.

[3] Post-fledging, young are poorly mobile, unable to fly, and rely entirely on adult group members for food.

In addition, they are more likely to successfully disperse from their natal group and consequently begin reproducing earlier than their “failed-disperser” counterparts.

Owing to the extended period of post-fledging care in this species, this can result in dependent young from multiple broods being raised simultaneously.

Pied babblers are strongly territorial, and defend their borders using wing and vocal displays on a near daily basis.

[5] Pied babblers teach their young by giving a specific purr call each time they deliver food.

[10] Pied babblers have a complex interspecific interaction with the kleptoparasitic fork-tailed drongo, Dicrurus adsimilis.

Drongos perch above and follow babbler groups between foraging sites and give alarm calls each time a predator is seen.

[12] The Pied Babbler Research Project was established by Dr Amanda Ridley in 2003 for the purpose of studying many aspects of cooperative breeding behaviour over the long-term.

Research is conducted continuously by scientists and postgraduate students and involves investigations into population dynamics, the causes and consequences of helping behaviour, sexual selection, foraging ecology, interspecific interactions, vocal communication, parent-offspring conflict, kin recognition, maternal effects, physiology and reproductive conflict.