- Cercotrichas paena
Erythropygia paena
Identification
- Medium-sized sandy-brown scrub-robin
- Pale unstreaked underparts.
- Brownish back"
- Auburn-rusty rump and tail with a white-tipped black terminal band.
The similar Red-backed Scrub-Robin differs in having white on the wing and a streaked breast. The lack of white on the wing and lack of breast streaking help separate this species from the similar Red-backed Scrub-Robin.
Distribution
Angola, Botswana, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe.
Taxonomy
Cercotrichas paena has four subspecies:[1]
- C. p. benguellensis
- South-western Angola
- C. p. damarensis
- Namibia
- C. p. paena
- Botswana to Zimbabwe, north-western and north-central South Africa
- C. p. oriens
- Western Free State to southern Zimbabwe
Birds from the arid north-west are paler than those from the wetter south-east. There is little known about transition zones between subspecies; boundaries are somewhat arbitrary.[2]
Habitat
Shrubland and short open woodland with areas of bare ground.
Behaviour
They have a very expressive cocked-up tail which is often rocked back and forth sideways. Pairs frequent thickets and clumps of thorn trees in Kalahari woodland. They forage on the ground or perch in trees where they singing a varied musical song.
References
- Clements, JF. 2009. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to December 2009. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019.
- Hockey, PAR, WRJ Dean, and PG Ryan, eds. 2005. Roberts' Birds of Southern Africa. 7th ed. Cape Town: John Voelcker Bird Book Fund. ISBN 978-0620340533
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Kalahari Scrub Robin. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 28 April 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Kalahari_Scrub_Robin
External Links
GSearch checked for 2020 platform.1
