Eastern Black-headed Batis - BirdForum Opus

Photo by volker sthamer
Lake Abyata, Ethiopia, August 2009

Batis minor

Includes Western Black-headed Apalis

Identification

Length 11-12 cm. A very dark Batis; has a well-defined white eyebrow.

Similar species

Female, subspecies erlangeri
Photo by volker sthamer
Langano, Ethiopia, March 2016

Grey-headed Batis

Distribution

Africa:
Western Africa: Cameroon, Central African Republic, Gabon, Congo, DRC, Angola
Eastern Africa: Sudan, Ethiopia, Somalia, Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya

Taxonomy

Subspecies

There are 3 subspecies^[1]:

• B. m. erlangeri:

• Ethiopian Plateau and Somalia to Cameroon and Angola

• B. m. minor:

• Southern Somalia

• B. m. suahelicus:

• Kenya and Tanzania

Subspecies erlangeri is sometimes split as a separate species Western Black-headed Apalis.^[2]

Habitat

Dry forests and moist savanna.

Behaviour

Vocalisation

A series of slow whistles, maintaining the same pitch; a buzzing call.

References

1. Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2016. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2016, with updates to August 2016. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
2. Gill, F and D Donsker (Eds). 2010. IOC World Bird Names (version 2.7). Available at http://www.worldbirdnames.org/.
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. (2021) Eastern Black-headed Batis. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 1 June 2021 from https://www.birdforum.net/wiki/Eastern_Black-headed_Batis

External Links

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