Batis (bird)

Batis
Cape batis, Batis capensis
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Platysteiridae
Genus:	Batis F. Boie, 1833
Type species
Muscicapa capensis [1] Linnaeus, 1766
Species
See text

Batis (pronounced BAT-iss) is a genus of passerine birds in the wattle-eye family. Its species are resident in Africa south of the Sahara. They were previously classed as a subfamily of the Old World flycatcher family, Muscicapidae.

They are small stout insect-eating birds, usually found in open forests or bush. The nest is a small neat cup low in a tree or bush. They hunt by flycatching, or by taking prey from the ground like a shrike.

Batis species are strikingly patterned, typically with a grey crown, black eye mask, dark back, and paler underparts, often with a coloured or black breast band and white on the throat which contrasts strongly with the black eye stripe. Male and female plumages usually differ.

The song is typically a descending triple whistle.

Taxonomy

The genus Batis was introduced by the German zoologist Friedrich Boie in 1833. ^[2] The type species was subsequently designated as the Cape batis. ^[3] The name of the genus is from the Ancient Greek batis, batidos, an unidentified worm-eating bird mentioned by Aristotle. ^[4]

The genus contains 20 species. ^[5]

Image	Scientific name	Common name	Distribution
-	Batis diops	Rwenzori batis	Albertine Rift montane forests
	Batis margaritae	Margaret's batis	mount Moco (Angola), southern DR Congo and northern Zambia
	Batis mixta	Forest batis	eastern Tanzania and southeastern Kenya
-	Batis crypta	Dark batis	Eastern Arc Mountains of Tanzania and northern Malawi
-	Batis dimorpha	Malawi batis	Malawi and adjacent areas
	Batis capensis	Cape batis	southern Afromontane
-	Batis fratrum	Woodwards' batis	Mozambique
	Batis molitor	Chinspot batis	centre/southern sub-Saharan Africa
	Batis senegalensis	Senegal batis	West Africa
	Batis orientalis	Grey-headed batis	northeastern sub-Saharan Africa
	Batis soror	Pale batis	sout-eastern Kenya to southern Mozambique
	Batis pririt	Pririt batis	southern Africa
	Batis minor	Eastern black-headed batis	central-northern sub-Saharan Africa
-	Batis erlangeri	Western black-headed batis	east Africa
	Batis perkeo	Pygmy batis	mainly Horn of Africa
-	Batis minulla	Angola batis	western Central Africa
-	Batis minima	Gabon batis	western Congolian rainforests
-	Batis ituriensis	Ituri batis	northeastern Congo Basin
-	Batis occulta	West African batis	Guineo-congolean region
-	Batis poensis	Fernando Po batis	Bioko

References

1. "Platysteiridae". aviansystematics.org. The Trust for Avian Systematics. Retrieved 2023-07-16.
2. Boie, Friedrich (1833). "Fernere Vemertungen über Classification der Vögel". Isis von Oken (in German). 26. Col 876-884 [880].
3. Mayr, Ernst; Cottrell, G. William, eds. (1986). Check-list of Birds of the World. Vol. 11. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. p. 378.
4. Jobling, J.A. (2018). del Hoyo, J.; Elliott, A.; Sargatal, J.; Christie, D.A.; de Juana, E. (eds.). "Key to Scientific Names in Ornithology". Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions. Retrieved 24 June 2018.
5. Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (February 2025). "Batises, bushshrikes, boatbills, vangas (sensu lato)". IOC World Bird List Version 15.1. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 30 March 2025.

• Fjeldså, Jon; Bowie, Rauri C.K.; Kiure, Jacob (2006). "The forest batis, Batis mixta, is two species: description of a new, narrowly distributed Batis species in the Eastern Arc biodiversity hotspot" (PDF). Journal of Ornithology. 147 (4): 578–590. Bibcode:2006JOrni.147..578F. doi:10.1007/s10336-006-0082-4. S2CID   31793603. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-05-17. Retrieved 2008-02-27.
• Sinclair, Ian; Hockey, Phil; Tarboton, Warwick (2002). SASOL Birds of Southern Africa. Cape Town: Struik. ISBN   1-86872-721-1.