Alternative names: East Coast Batis; Mozambique Batis; Madagascar Batis; Paler Chin-spot Puff-back Flycatcher
- Batis soror
Identification
Sexually dimorphic. Medium sized Batis (10-11 cm). Male. Pale grey forehead and front of crown. Rest of crown and nape steel grey ( no white nape spot ? ). Mantle, rump and uppertail coverts steel grey, all with white tips making the upperparts look chequered. Thin white supercillia almost reaching nape. Lores and earcoverts black. Chin and throat white. Narrow black breastband, often broken at the bottom. Wings and tail as other Batis'. Female as male except for diffuse pale rufous spot in the centre of the throat, thin pale rufous breast band and pale rufous flanks. The breastband and flanks are often seperated by a thin horizontal white area. Eye yellow, bill and legs black.
Distribution
Africa from Mozambique to Kenya, replacing the Chinspot Batis in coastal areas. It is a fairly common resident.
Taxonomy
Monotypic.[1]
Habitat
Lowland forest, woodland and savannah.
Behaviour
Voice. Gentle, repeated "tcheeoo, tcheeoo"
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
- 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) Pale Batis. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 3 May 2025 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Pale_Batis
