- Dryoscopus cubla
Identification
Length 17-18 cm; Weight 19-36 g.
Size smaller than Fiscal Shrike; tail relatively short; mainly black-and-white. Male: Above black; rump grayish white; no white eyebrow; wings black-and-white; below white; tail black. Named from the loose feathers on the male's rump and lower back. Female: Similar to male, but less intensely black; white areas more buff or grayish white. Immature: Deep buff olive where adults white.
Eyes yellow, orange or red; bill black; legs and feet grey.
Male's Display
The male puffs out the white rump feathers "to form a remarkable white ball, then bows, droops vibrating wings, and spreads tail. He makes short 'butterfly' flights with the puff expanded, and may drop vertically through the air with raised wings. Courting birds audibly click their wings" (Zimmerman et al. 1996).
Distribution
Taxonomy
Dryoscopus cubla has five subspecies:1
- D. c. affinis
- D. c. nairobiensis
- D. c. hamatus
- D. c. okavangensis
- D. c. cubla
Habitat
Woodland, thicket and forest.
Behaviour
References
- Clements JF. 2007. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to October 2008. Cornell University Press. ISBN 9780801445019
- Sinclair I & Ryan P. 2003. Birds of Africa south of the Sahara. Princeton University Press. ISBN 0620207299
