The
Old World babblers or
timaliids are a large family of mostly
Old World passerine birds. They are rather diverse in size and coloration, but are characterised by soft fluffy plumage. These are birds of tropical areas, with the greatest variety in
Southeast Asia and the
Indian subcontinent. The timaliids are one of two unrelated groups of birds known as babblers, the other being the
Australasian babblers of the family Pomatostomidae (also known as pseudo-babblers).