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Photo by Alastair Rae
Etosha, Namibia, December 2006

Cercotrichas paena

Erythropygia paena

[edit] Identification

[edit] Distribution

Angola, Botswana, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe.

[edit] Taxonomy

Cercotrichas paena has four subspecies:^[1]

• C. p. benguellensis

• South-western Angola

• C. p. damarensis

• Namibia

• C. p. paena

• Botswana to Zimbabwe, north-western and north-central South Africa

• C. p. oriens

• Western Free State to southern Zimbabwe

Birds from the arid north-west are paler than those from the wetter south-east. There is little known about transition zones between subspecies; boundaries are somewhat arbitrary.^[2]

[edit] Habitat

Shrubland and short open woodland with areas of bare ground.

[edit] Behaviour

[edit] References

1. Clements, JF. 2009. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to December 2009. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019.
2. Hockey, PAR, WRJ Dean, and PG Ryan, eds. 2005. Roberts' Birds of Southern Africa. 7th ed. Cape Town: John Voelcker Bird Book Fund. ISBN 978-0620340533

• List of references

[edit] External Links