The black-lored babbler is also known as Sharpe's pied-babbler (Turdoides sharpei) after Richard Bowdler Sharpe (22 November 1847 – 25 December 1909), an English zoologist and ornithologist. It was formerly considered the same species as Turdoides melanops of southern Africa, now known as the black-faced babbler. The combination of pale yellow or white eyes and black lores (the areas between the eye and the bill) separates adults of this species from similar babblers - except the black-faced babbler. It is found in southwestern Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Burundi, Rwanda, and part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
