- Malaconotus blanchoti
Identification
Length 25-26 cm (9¾-10¼ in); mass 69-99 g.
Adult: Head grey with white lores and yellow eye. Wing coverts, back and tail olive-green; wing coverts and tertials tipped yellowish. Underparts yellow with orange wash on breast. The large bill is black.
Juvenile: Has barring on the greyish head and has pale yellow underparts.
Similar species
Other Malaconotus Bushshrikes (all large-billed) are found in different habitat (forest). Grey-headed Bushshrike is also the only one with yellow eyes and with white lores that do not extend behind the eye.
Distribution
Sub-Saharan Africa:
Western Africa: Senegambia, Senegal, The Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Mali, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Togo, Nigeria, Niger, Chad, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Angola
Eastern Africa: Sudan, South Sudan, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania, Zambia, Mozambique, Malawi
Southern Africa: Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, South Africa, KwaZulu-Natal, eSwatini
Taxonomy
Subspecies
Malaconotus blanchoti has seven subspecies:[1]
- M. b. blanchoti
- M. b. catharoxanthus
- M. b. interpositus
- M. b. citrinipectus
- M. b. approximans
- M. b. hypopyrrhus
- Rwanda to Tanzania, Malawi, Mozambique and north-eastern South Africa
- M. b. extremus
- South-eastern Cape Province (South Africa)
Habitat
Woodland, savanna, riverine forest and gardens.
Behaviour
Usually single or in pairs; forages at all levels in woodland or forest.
Diet
Diverse; including a wide range of invertebrates and almost any vertebrates small enough to subdue (including lizards, snakes, bats and birds).
Vocalisation
Mournful hooting whistle, whoooooo; sometimes rising in pitch at the end, whoooo-up. Also clacking notes and screaming skreeep, skreeep. May sing in duet.
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2017. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2017, with updates to August 2017. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- 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
- Sinclair, I and P Ryan. 2003. Birds of Africa South of the Sahara. Princeton: Princeton Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0691118154
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2025) Grey-headed Bushshrike. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 2 May 2025 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Grey-headed_Bushshrike
