African Broadbill

male
Photo by jc122463
Mkuze, South Africa

Alternative name: Delacour's Broadbill

Smithornis capensis

Identification

12-14cm. A stocky bird with a short tail and a distinctive broad, flat bill.

• Black crown, greyish ear-coverts
• Brownish head and upperparts, mantle and back with broad black streaks
• Buff underparts streaked black

Females have a grey crown with black streaks (differs with subspecies).

female
Photo by the late Jan Van den Broeck
St. Lucia, South Africa

Distribution

Widespread throughout sub-Saharan Africa
Western Africa: Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Nigeria, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Congo, Angola
Eastern Africa: Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania, Zambia, Mozambique, Malawi
Southern Africa: Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, South Africa, KwaZulu-Natal, Swaziland
Locally common in much of its range but becoming increasingly scarce in some parts.

Taxonomy

Nine subspecies are recognised.

Subspecies^[1]

• S. c. delacouri:

• Sierra Leone to Ghana

• S. c. camarunensis:

• Cameroon to Gabon and Central African Republic

• S. c. albigularis:

• Angola to Zaire, northern Zambia, western Tanzania and northern Malawi

• S. c. medianus:

• Central Kenya and north-eastern Tanzania

• S. c. meinertzhageni:

• Highlands of north-eastern Zaire, Uganda and western Kenya

• S. c. suahelicus:

• South-eastern Kenya, eastern Tanzania and north-eastern Mozambique

• S. c. conjunctus:

• Caprivi Strip and middle Zambezi Valley to north-western Mozambique

• S. c. cryptoleucus:

• Southern Malawi and south-eastern Tanzania to north-eastern Transvaal and Mozambique

• S. c. capensis :

• South Africa (coastal Natal and southern Zululand)

Habitat

Broad range of habitats: dense forests, moist montanes and savanna. Also in disturbed areas. Mostly found below 700m, locally up to 2550m.

Behaviour

Diet

The diet includes insects and spiders.
Sallies from a perch catching its prey and then returns to the same perch again.

Breeding

Long breeding season, differs through range. The nest is a bag made of plant fibres, green moss, dead leaves and twigs. It's attached to a thin branch, 1 to 2.5m above the ground in a bush, sapling or small tree. Lays usually 2-3 eggs.

References

1. 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
2. Avibase
3. Del Hoyo, J, A Elliot, and D Christie, eds. 2003. Handbook of the Birds of the World. Volume 8: Broadbills to Tapaculos. Barcelona: Lynx Edicions. ISBN 978-8487334504

• List of references

Recommended Citation

• BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) African Broadbill. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 18 April 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/African_Broadbill

External Links

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