Bushshrike

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Bushshrikes
Flickr - Rainbirder - Yellow-crowned Gonolek (Laniarius barbarus) (1).jpg
A yellow-crowned gonolek (Laniarius barbarus) in Gambia
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Superfamily: Malaconotoidea
Family: Malaconotidae
Swainson, 1824
Genera

Nilaus
Dryoscopus
Tchagra
Laniarius
Rhodophoneus
Chlorophoneus
Telophorus
Malaconotus

Contents

The bushshrikes are smallish passerine birds. They were formerly classed with the true shrikes in the family Laniidae, but are now considered sufficiently distinctive to be separated from that group as the family Malaconotidae, a name that alludes to their fluffy back and rump feathers. [1]

Like their shrike-like relatives, the helmetshrikes, the bushshrikes have arisen in Africa in relatively recent times. [2] The family is endemic to sub-Saharan Africa but completely absent from Madagascar, [2] where the vangas are their closest relatives. [3] They are found in scrub or open woodland, and less often in marshes, Afromontane or tropical forest. They are similar in habits to shrikes, hunting insects and other small prey from a perch on a bush. Although similar in build to the shrikes, these tend to be either colourful species or largely black; some species are quite secretive.

Some bushshrikes have flamboyant displays. The male puffbacks puff out the loose feathers on their rump and lower back, to look almost ball-like.

These are mainly insectivorous forest or scrub birds. Up to four eggs are laid in a cup nest in a tree.

Taxonomy

Bock has posited that the family name Malaconotidae was first used by William John Swainson in 1824; however, this is disputed by Storrs Olson, who reports that Swainson used the term Malaconoti as a non-defining plural, and placed the genus in the Thamnophilinae within the shrike family Laniidae. [4] Peters regarded the group as a subfamily, Malaconotinae, of the shrikes. In 1971, the group was raised to family status, with their resemblance to typical shrikes considered to be more a result of convergent evolution. [5]

Bushshrikes, helmetshrikes (Prionopidae), ioras (Aegithinidae), vangas (Vangidae) and the Australian butcherbirds, magpies and currawongs (Cracticidae) and woodswallows (Artamidae) are part of a large group of shrike-like birds distributed from Africa to Australia, which have been defined as the superfamily Malaconotoidea by Cacraft and colleagues in 2004. [6] Previously, bushshrikes and helmetshrikes have been considered part of the Old World shrike family, Laniidae, based on shared characteristics including a hooked bill. [7] However, analysis of behavioral and molecular characteristics places Malaconotidae closer to Platysteiridae and Vangidae, suggesting that the birds of the family Laniidae are only distant relatives. [8]

An intron-comparison study by Fuchs et al. in 2004 provided strong support for the monophyly of the Malaconotidae, but the relationships between the genera of the family remain unclear. [7] The genus Nilaus is morphologically more similar to Prionopidae than the rest of the bushshrike family is, [8] but the results presented by Fuchs et al. place it within Malaconotidae. This placement is supported by DNA/DNA hybridization data as well as studies of hind limb musculature. [9] The genus Dryoscopus consists of six small species with similar coloring, which may be closely related to birds of the genus Tchagra. [7] The genus Malaconotus consists of six species which were traditionally believed to be closely related to Telophorus due to similar coloration, but new analyses suggest a close relationship between Malaconotus and Dryoscopus and Tchagra. [7] Strong evidence exists for the monophyly of the genus Laniarius, and Fuchs et al. suggest its closest relatives are the genera Telophorous and Rhodophoneus, but the exact relationships are unclear. [7]

Description

Bushshrikes are small to medium-sized passerines, with short, rounded wings and strong legs and feet. Plumage is typically black, grey, and brown, with some yellow and green. Some bushshrikes have red undersides or red throat-patches. [10]

Distribution and habitat

Bushshrikes typically inhabit forest margins or patches of bush in savannah. [5] Some species have been known to inhabit coffee plantations, [11] or subsist in sacred groves where riparian vegetation is informally protected from shifting cultivation. [12]

Behavior

Laniarius funebris, the slate-colored boubou, mates in monogamous pairs. It has been suggested that songs of this species are triggered more by behavioral cues than by hormone levels. Slate-colored Boubou, Serengeti.jpg
Laniarius funebris, the slate-colored boubou, mates in monogamous pairs. It has been suggested that songs of this species are triggered more by behavioral cues than by hormone levels.

Bushshrike diets consist mainly of large insects, but occasionally may include wild fruits and berries [10] and sometimes rodents. [7] They catch their prey by gleaning among tree foliage. [5] They also join mixed bird parties, loose foraging assemblages consisting mainly of passerine birds. [2]

Their nests are generally small and neat, and they lay clutches of 2–3 eggs. [5]

Bushshrikes have distinctive harsh or guttural calls, [10] [11] which may be sung as duets. Male and female birds are able to learn songs of similar complexity, and both sexes have a similarly sized repertoire. [13] Songs may be sung to indicate territory or as part of courtship. A 1992 study of the calls of Laniarius funebris found that a male's likelihood of singing a mating song was correlated with his mate's estradiol levels, rather than his own testosterone levels, suggesting that behavioral cues between a mating pair, rather than hormone levels, are more important in triggering mating songs. [14]

List of species in taxonomic order

ImageGenusLiving Species
Brubru, Nilaus afer, at Pilanesberg National Park, Northwest Province, South Africa (29688553686).jpg Nilaus Swainson, 1827
Dryoscopus gambensis (Malaconotidae) (Northern Puffback) - (male), Mole National Park, Ghana, crop.jpg Dryoscopus F. Boie, 1826 – puffbacks
Marsh Tchagra, Luita, DRC (6700728549) (cropped).jpg Bocagia Shelley, 1894
Black-crowned Tchagra, Tchagra senegala.jpg Tchagra Lesson, 1831 – tchagras
Crimson-breasted Shrike, Laniarius atrococcineus, at Pilanesberg National Park, Northwest Province, South Africa (43247381430).jpg Laniarius Vieillot, 1816 – boubous and gonoleks
Rhodophoneus cruentus -Buffalo Springs National Park, Kenya-8.jpg Rhodophoneus Heuglin, 1871 – rosy-patched bushshrike
Chlorophoneus sulfureopectus (6308727070).jpg Chlorophoneus Cabanis, 1850
Telophorus zeylonus.jpg Telophorus Swainson, 1832
Grey-headed Bushshrike (Malaconotus blanchoti) in tree, crop.jpg Malaconotus Swainson, 1824

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shrike</span> Family of birds

Shrikes are passerine birds of the family Laniidae. The family is composed of 34 species in two genera.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Currawong</span> Genus of birds

Currawongs are three species of medium-sized passerine birds belonging to the genus Strepera in the family Artamidae native to Australia. These are the grey currawong, pied currawong, and black currawong. The common name comes from the call of the familiar pied currawong of eastern Australia and is onomatopoeic. They were formerly known as crow-shrikes or bell-magpies. Despite their resemblance to crows and ravens, they are only distantly related to the corvidae, instead belonging to an Afro-Asian radiation of birds of superfamily Malaconotoidea.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vanga</span> Family of birds

The family Vangidae comprises a group of often shrike-like medium-sized birds distributed from Asia to Africa, including the vangas of Madagascar to which the family owes its name. Many species in this family were previously classified elsewhere in other families. Recent molecular techniques made it possible to assign these species to Vangidae, thereby solving several taxonomic enigmas. The family contains 40 species divided into 21 genera.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Helmetshrike</span> Family of birds

Helmetshrikes are a family uniting some smallish to mid-sized songbird species. They were included with the true shrikes in the family Laniidae, later on split between several presumably closely related groups such as bushshrikes (Malaconotidae) and cuckooshrikes (Campephagidae), but are now considered sufficiently distinctive to be separated from that group into the family Vangidae.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Black-crowned tchagra</span> Species of bird

The black-crowned tchagra is a bushshrike. This family of passerine birds is closely related to the true shrikes in the family Laniidae, and was once included in that group.

A shrike is a passerine bird of the family Laniidae.

<i>Tchagra</i> Genus of birds

The tchagras are passerine birds in the bushshrike family, which are closely related to the true shrikes in the family Laniidae, and were once included in that group.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Southern boubou</span> Species of bird

The southern boubou is a bushshrike. Though these passerine birds and their relations were once included with true shrikes in the Laniidae, they are not closely related to that family.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Southern tchagra</span> Species of bird

The southern tchagra is a passerine bird found in dense scrub and coastal bush in southern and south-eastern South Africa and Eswatini.

<i>Laniarius</i> Genus of birds

Laniarius is a genus of brightly coloured, carnivorous passerine birds commonly known as boubous or gonoleks. Not to be confused with the similar-sounding genus Lanius, they were formerly classed with the true shrikes in the family Laniidae, but they and related genera are now considered sufficiently distinctive to be separated from that group as the bush-shrike family Malaconotidae.

<i>Nicator</i> Genus of birds

The nicators are a genus, Nicator, and family, Nicatoridae, of songbirds endemic to Africa. The genus and family contain three species.

<i>Dryoscopus</i> Genus of birds

Dryoscopus is a genus of bird in the Malaconotidae or bushshrike family. Its members are known as puffbacks. The six species, all of fairly uniform appearance and habits, are native to various parts of sub-Saharan Africa. The name Dryoscopus is a compound Greek word: drus from the Greek word for "tree" and skopos, meaning "watcher or lookout".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Slate-colored boubou</span> Species of bird

The slate-colored boubou or slate-coloured boubou is a species of bird in the family Malaconotidae. It is found in Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Somalia, South Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests, dry savanna, subtropical or tropical dry shrubland, and subtropical or tropical moist shrubland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grey-headed bushshrike</span> Species of bird

The grey-headed bushshrike, colloquially known as the ghostbird, is a species of passerine bird in the family Malaconotidae. It is widespread throughout sub-Saharan Africa, although relatively absent in Central Africa and the interior of southern Africa. It is the most widespread species of its genus, which consists of large bushshrikes with massive bills and mournful hooting calls. It occurs sparsely in a range of wooded habitats, though typically in denser vegetation within dry or moist savannah. The monogamous pairs occupy woodland with sufficient cover. They are sedentary, but will undertake limited post-breeding movements.

<i>Malaconotus</i> Genus of birds

Malaconotus is a genus of passerine birds in the bush-shrike family Malaconotidae, which is endemic to sub-Saharan Africa. Their Greek generic name suggests fluffy back and rump feathers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lagden's bushshrike</span> Species of bird

Lagden's bushshrike is a bird species in the bushshrike family (Malaconotidae) native to Africa. It is a stocky bird with yellow or orange-yellow underparts, olive green upperparts, a grey head and heavy bill. Two subspecies are recognised, one found in west Africa and one in central Africa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Monteiro's bushshrike</span> Species of bird

Monteiro's bushshrike is a species of bird in the bush-shrike family (Malaconotidae).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marsh tchagra</span> Species of bird

The marsh tchagra or blackcap bush-shrike is a species of passerine bird placed in the monotypic genus Bocagia in the family Malaconotidae. It is native to marshes in the tropics and subtropics of Africa. It is sometimes placed in the genus Tchagra.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ethiopian boubou</span> Species of bird

The Ethiopian boubou is a species of bird in the family Malaconotidae. It is found in Eritrea, Ethiopia, northwest Somalia, and northern Kenya. Its natural habitat is moist savanna.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Malaconotoidea</span> Superfamily of birds

Malaconotoidea is a superfamily of passerine birds. They contain a vast diversity of omnivorous and carnivorous songbirds widespread in Africa and Australia, many of which superficially resemble shrikes. It was defined and named by Cacraft and colleagues in 2004 and contains the bushshrikes (Malaconotidae), helmetshrikes (Prionopidae), ioras (Aegithinidae), vangas (Vangidae) and the Australian butcherbirds, magpies, currawongs and woodswallows (Artamidae). Molecular analysis in 2006 added the Bornean bristlehead to the group, though its position in the Malconotoidea is unclear. It was initially thought related to the butcherbirds and woodswallows but now is thought to be an early offshoot.

References

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