Small- to medium-sized passerine (perching) birds that are garrulous (talkative), restless, intensely social birds of savanna and woodland undergrowth. Most species have drab brown or grey-brown plumage.
They feed mainly on the ground in leaf-litter, within the cover of thickets or undergrowths. They eat invertebates, small vertebrates and occasionally also fruit. They move , in group, from one bush to the next when foraging.
They roost communally in trees, grouping together on an exposed branch. They bathe in groups in shaloow water. Their flight pattern is characterised by flurries of wingbeats and long glides. Unsually they fly relatively low.
Monogamous and cooperative breeders, all group members build the nest, incubate the eggs and care for the young. The nest is a bulky cup of grass, twigs etc. All subspecies lay beautiful unmarked blue eggs. The eggs of southern pied babbler and black-faced babbler have strange noduled surfaces. The nests of Hartlaub's babbler, southern pied babbler, arrow-marked babbler and bare-cheeked babbler can be parasitised by Leviant's cuckoo.

Turdiodes = thrush-like

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