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Photo by Steve G
Brufut Community Woodland, Western Division, The Gambia, March 2005

Tchagra senegala

Tchagra senegalus

[edit] Identification

19-22 cm
They have a mean-looking hooked beak, typical of the Bushshrikes and the same furtive habits.
Adult

• Black crown and eye stripe
• Broad white supercilium
• Pale grey underparts
• Light brown upperparts
• Chestnut wings
• Black tail, tipped white
• Black bill
  

Sexes are similar

Young birds have a brown cap and a pale yellow bill.

Size, colour of the back, underparts, eyestripe vary according to the subspecies.

[edit] Distribution

Africa and the Middle East
Northern Africa: Morocco, Algeria Tunisia, Libya
Western Africa: Mauritania, Senegal, The Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Mali, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Togo, Benin Nigeria, Niger Chad, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Congo, Angola
Eastern Africa: Sudan, Eritrea, Ethiopia Djibouti, Somalia, Kenya, Uganda Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania, Zambia, Mozambique, Malawi
Southern Africa: Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Western Cape, Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, Swaziland
Middle East: Arabian Peninsula, Saudi Arabia Yemen, Oman

[edit] Taxonomy

[edit] Subspecies^[1]

There are 10 subspecies: which vary in size and the colour of the back, underparts and eyestripe.

• T. s. cucullatus: Coastal Morocco to Algeria and Tunisia
• T. s. percivali: Southern Arabian Peninsula
• T. s. remigialis: Central Chad to central Sudan (Darfur, Kordofan and Nile Valley)
• T. s. nothus: Mali to northern Nigeria and Lake Chad
• T. s. senegalus: Senegal and Sierra Leone to Mali, southern Chad, Central African Republic
• T. s. wardangliensis: Northern Somalia (Warsangli)
• T. s. habessinicus: Southern Sudan (upper Nile Province) to Eritrea, Ethiopia and Somalia
• T. s. armenus: Southern Cameroon to northern Zaire, southern Sudan, Uganda, Kenya, Mozambique
• T. s. orientalis: Southern Somalia to eastern Transvaal, Natal and eastern Cape Province
• T. s. kalahari: Southern Angola, northern Namibia, south-western Zambia, north-western Zimbabwe to northern South Africa

[edit] Habitat

Farm tracks with bushes and thickets in wetland areas and dry country. Light savannah woodland.

[edit] Behaviour

[edit] Diet

The diet includes insects.

[edit] Breeding

It builds a cup shaped nest in a tree or bush. The clutch consists of 2-3 heavily marked white eggs. Incubation (mostly by the female) takes 12-15 days; the chicks fledging after a further 15 days.

[edit] Vocalisation

Song: descending whistling, Chee-chee chee cheroo cheroo.

[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. Avibase
3. Wikipedia
4. BF Member observations

• List of references

[edit] External Links