From Opus

Laniarius aethiopicus

Includes: Somali Boubou; Zanzibar Boubou

Photo by volker sthamer
Location: Sodo Wolaita, Ethiopia, Africa, August, 2008

[edit] Identification

23 to 25 cm. Glossy blue-black upperparts and tail, white spots on the rump, white underparts with buffy or pink tinge on the breast and flanks, black bill, dark reddish-brown eyes. The wings have white markings that vary, depending on subspecies. There is an all-black morph in a small area of coastal Kenya. Juveniles are similar but duller, grey brown bill, the upperparts mottled by yellowish-ochre to tawny feather tips, and dusky-barred flanks.

[edit] Distribution

Sub-Saharan Africa, as far south as 25°S.

[edit] Taxonomy

There are seven (or more) subspecies:

• L. a. major - Sierra Leone to Sudan, the southern Congo basin, and Angola.
• L. a. ambiguus - Kenya and northeastern Tanzania.
• L. a. erlangeri - southern Somalia, sometimes accepted as full species, Somali Boubou.
• L. a. sublacteus - coastal Kenya, and Zanzibar, sometimes accepted as full species, Zanzibar Boubou.
• L. a. mossambicus - southern Democratic Republic of the Congo, eastern Zambia, and Mozambique.
• L. a. limpopoensis - southern Zimbabwe, northern South Africa, and western Mozambique.

Molecular sequence data indicate that L. a. major, L. a. erlangeri and L. a. sublacteus may be separate species.¹ Furthermore new research shows, that Bulo Burti Boubou is a synonym with Somali Boubou.

[edit] Habitat

Forest and forest-edge, savanna woodland. In the drier parts of its range, the only suitable habitat is riparian forest.

[edit] Behaviour

The diet includes large insects, arthropods, small mammals, reptiles, and amphibians. It robs other birds' nests and occasionally eats snails and fruit. It holds large prey down with its foot while eating. Like other bush-shrikes, it impales prey on thorns to eat later.

Both sexes build the cup shaped nest of twigs, tendrils, and small roots held together with spider web, but the female does more of the work. 2-3 bluish to buffy green with brown and lilac spots eggs are laid. Both sexes incubate for about 15 days. Nestlings fledge after a similar period. Both sexes feed the young.

[edit] References

1. Nguembock B, Fjeldså J, Couloux A & Pasquet E. 2008. Phylogeny of Laniarius: molecular data reveal L. liberatus synonymous with L. erlangeri and "plumage coloration" as unreliable morphological characters for defining species and species groups. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 48, 396-407.

[edit] External Links