Bioko Batis - BirdForum Opus

Alternative name: Fernando Po Batis

Batis poensis

Includes West African Batis

Identification

Sexually dimorphic. Small (9 cm) Batis with a short tail.

B. p. occulta:
Male: Forehead, crown and nape very dark grey. Back to upper tail coverts slate grey; rump with whitish tips to the feathers. Narrow white supercillia, often broken above the eye, join at the base of the nape. Chin and throat white, narrow black breastband. Rest of underparts white. Inner 2 greater wing coverts white, rest black. Median wing coverts form a bold white wingbar that joins up with the white margins to the tertials. Rest of wing black. Tail black with white outer margins.
Female: Similar to the male but with narrower, chestnut breast band and paler grey back.

Distribution

Discontinuous distribution from Liberia to northern Gabon; also Bioko (Island of Fernando Po).

Taxonomy

Batis poensis has two subspecies:^[2][3]

• B. p. poensis

• Bioko Island
• Male has darker head than B. p. occulta and the eyebrow is incomplete; female has paler breast band than B. p. occulta.

• B. p. occulta

• Liberia to northern Gabon
• Split by some authors as West African Batis^[1][4]

Habitat

Forest, forest edge and secondary growth with tall trees.

Behaviour

Vocalisation

A buzzy note followed by one or two whistles; often repeated. Also a long series of whistles.

References

1. Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, B.L. Sullivan, C. L. Wood, and D. Roberson. 2012. The eBird/Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to October 2012. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019. Spreadsheet available at http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/downloadable-clements-checklist
2. Dickinson, EC, ed. 2003. The Howard and Moore Complete Checklist of the Birds of the World. 3rd ed., with updates to December 2007 (Corrigenda 7). Princeton: Princeton Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0691117010
3. Gill, F and D Donsker (Eds). 2010. IOC World Bird Names (version 2.7). Available at http://www.worldbirdnames.org/.
4. 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) Bioko Batis. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 24 April 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Bioko_Batis

External Links

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