Grey-headed Bushshrike

Subspecies approximans
Photo by sthamer volker sthamer
Langano, Ethiopia, February 2018

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, Swaziland

Taxonomy

Subspecies

Malaconotus blanchoti has seven subspecies:^[1]

• M. b. blanchoti

• Senegal to northern Nigeria and northern Cameroon

• M. b. catharoxanthus

• Northern Cameroon to Eritrea, northern Ethiopia, Uganda and western Kenya

• M. b. interpositus

• Angola to western Zambia

• M. b. citrinipectus

• South-western Angola and extreme north-western Namibia (northern Ovamboland to Cunene Valley)

• M. b. approximans

• Southern Ethiopia to Somalia, Kenya and northern Tanzania

• 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

1. Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2015. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2015, with updates to August 2015. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
2. 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
3. Sinclair, I and P Ryan. 2003. Birds of Africa South of the Sahara. Princeton: Princeton Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0691118154

• List of references

Recommended Citation

• BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Grey-headed Bushshrike. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 25 April 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Grey-headed_Bushshrike

External Links

Search for photos of Grey-headed Bushshrike in the gallery