From Opus

Indicator minor

I. m. senegalensis
Photo by Steve G
Makasutu cultural forest, Western division of The Gambia

I. m. teitensis
Photo by Alan Manson
Kruger National Park, South Africa

[edit] Identification

An unobtrusive drab olive-brown bird with a short stubby bill & white outer tail feathers that are prominent in flight.

[edit] Distribution

Sub-Saharan Africa.

[edit] Taxonomy

Indicator minor has 6 subspecies:

• I. m. minor South Africa, south-eastern Botswana, Swaziland;
• I. m. senegalensis Senegal, Chad, Cameroon, Sudan;
• I. m. riggenbachi Cameroon, Sudan, Uganda;
• I. m. diadematus Sudan, Ethiopia, Somalia;
• I. m. damarensis Angola, Namibia; and
• I. m. teitensis Democratic Rep. of Congo, Angola, Kenya, Uganda, Mozambique, Zimbabwe and lowlands of eastern South Africa.

[edit] Habitat

Woodland, savanna, forest edges, riverine forest, plantations, parks and wooded gardens; seldom strays far from cover.

[edit] Behaviour

This bird does not guide to bees nests but tends to catch insects in flycatcher fashion. Like the other Honeyguides it is a brood parasite of other hole & cavity nesters such as Barbets & Bee-eaters. Honeyguide chicks hatch with a pronounced hook to the bill-tip which they use to wound & kill the young of the host species.

[edit] References

Lepage D. 2007. Avibase. Search for Indicator minor downloaded 2 October 2007.

[edit] External Links