Alternative name: Rufous-breasted Bushshrike
- Chlorophoneus olivaceus
Telophorus olivaceus
Identification
Two morphs occur, a ruddy morph and a less-common olive morph. The ruddy morph has a grey crown and mantle, whitish lores, black (male) or grey (female) face and ear coverts, olive-green back, rump and wings, buffy rufous throat and chest and a greenish-buff belly. The olive morph has olive-green crown, mantle, back, rump and wings. The male has yellow lores and eyebrows, a black face and eyebrows, a black tail with yellow outer feathers, and rufous-yellow underparts. The female has a greyish-green face and ear coverts, an olive-green tail, and olive-yellow underparts.
This species resembles the Black-fronted Bushshrike, but the latter has bright orange underparts. These species also have distinctly different calls.
Distribution
Eastern and extreme southern Africa.
Taxonomy
Clements (2010)[1] places this species (and others in the genus Chlorophoneus) in the genus Telophorus.
There are five subspecies:[1][2]
- C. o. olivaceus''
- Southern to eastern South Africa and eSwatini
- C. o. interfluvius''
- Mozambique south of the Save River and extreme north-eastern KwaZulu-Natal
- C. o. vitorum''
- Highlands of eastern Zimbabwe to the coast of Mozambique
- C. o. makawa''
- C. o. bertrandi''
- Southern Malawi (east of Shire Valley)
Habitat
Forest, dense woodland and thickets.
Behaviour
Forages for invertibrates and small fruits in dense vegetation, often in mixed-spiecies bird parties. More often heard than seen; calls include slow teu--teu--teu--teu whistles.
References
- Clements, JF. 2010. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to December 2010. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019. Spreadsheet available at http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/Clements%206.5.xls/view
- 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
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2025) Olive Bushshrike. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 2 May 2025 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Olive_Bushshrike
