- Lissotis melanogaster
Identification
Length 58 to 65 cm
Male
- Upper parts light brown upperparts with black and brown streaks and spots
- Underparts black
- Head black, white, and buff
- Long, thin light brown neck with a thin black line down the front, which which continues and broadens out to a black breast and belly
- Brown and buff tail with four or five narrow dark brown bands
- Upper wings white with a brown triangle at the base
- Yellow legs and bill
Photo © by DARKROOM IMAGES
Female
- Plain buff with darker brown mottling on back, thin, wavy lines on neck and breast
Juvenile
- Duller and darker, dark grey crown, buff spots on the wing
Distribution
Sub-Saharan Africa.
Taxonomy
Eupodotis vs. Lissotis
Some authorities (Sibley & Monroe, 1996) lump the genus Lissotis within Eupodotis. however there now seems to be a consensus for using Lissotis..
Subspecies1
- L. m. melanogaster - Senegal to Ethiopia, s Angola and Mozambique
- L. m. notophila - SE Africa s of the Zambezi to w Zimbabwe and South Africa.
Habitat
Woodland and tall open grassland.
Behaviour
The diet includes grasshoppers, beetles and caterpillars, seeds and small vertebrates.
References
- Clements, James F. 2007. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to October 2008. Ithaca: Cornell University Press. ISBN 9780801445019
- Wikipedia
External Links
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