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[[Image:Common_Fiscal.jpg|thumb|550px|right|Male<br />Photo by {{user|AlexA|AlexA}}<br/ >Masai Mara, [[Kenya]], August 2005]] | [[Image:Common_Fiscal.jpg|thumb|550px|right|Male<br />Photo by {{user|AlexA|AlexA}}<br/ >Masai Mara, [[Kenya]], August 2005]] | ||
;[[:Category:Lanius|Lanius]] collaris | ;[[:Category:Lanius|Lanius]] collaris | ||
| − | '''Includes Uhehe Fiscal''' | + | '''Includes Uhehe Fiscal; Northern Fiscal; Southern Fiscal''' |
==Identification== | ==Identification== | ||
A pied, heavy-bodied, heavy-billed bird with white wing-bar extending to the shoulders. Female has rufous flanks. | A pied, heavy-bodied, heavy-billed bird with white wing-bar extending to the shoulders. Female has rufous flanks. | ||
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:*Arid coastal north-western Namibia and south-western Angola | :*Arid coastal north-western Namibia and south-western Angola | ||
| − | The subspecies ''marwitzi'' from [[Tanzania]] is sometimes considered a full species, '''Uhehe Fiscal'''. | + | The subspecies ''marwitzi'' from [[Tanzania]] is sometimes considered a full species, '''Uhehe Fiscal''', ''humeralis'' is sometimes split as '''Northern Fiscal''' (the remaining species then called Southern Fiscal). |
==Habitat== | ==Habitat== | ||
Found in woodland and open savanna, shrubland with scattered trees. Common around cities, gardens, parks and along roadsides. | Found in woodland and open savanna, shrubland with scattered trees. Common around cities, gardens, parks and along roadsides. | ||
Revision as of 05:29, 11 July 2011
- Lanius collaris
Includes Uhehe Fiscal; Northern Fiscal; Southern Fiscal
Identification
A pied, heavy-bodied, heavy-billed bird with white wing-bar extending to the shoulders. Female has rufous flanks.
Distribution
Sub-Saharan Africa
Western Africa: Mauritania, Guinea, Mali, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Togo, Benin, Nigeria, Niger, Chad, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Democratic Republic of Congo and Angola
Eastern Africa: Sudan, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania, Zambia, Mozambique and Malawi
Southern Africa: Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, South Africa, KwaZulu-Natal, Lesotho and Swaziland
African Islands: Saint Helena
Taxonomy
Subspecies
There are 8 subspecies[1]:
- L. c. smithii:
- L. c. humeralis:
- Eritrea and Ethiopia to southern Tanzania and northern Mozambique
- L. c. marwitzi:
- North-eastern and south-central Tanzania
- L. c. capelli:
- L. c. collaris:
- Southern Namibia, South Africa to southern Transvaal, Natal and western Swaziland
- L. c. pyrrhostictus:
- L. c. subcoronatus:
- L. c. aridicolus:
- Arid coastal north-western Namibia and south-western Angola
The subspecies marwitzi from Tanzania is sometimes considered a full species, Uhehe Fiscal, humeralis is sometimes split as Northern Fiscal (the remaining species then called Southern Fiscal).
Habitat
Found in woodland and open savanna, shrubland with scattered trees. Common around cities, gardens, parks and along roadsides.
Behaviour
Compared to the rest of the shrikes, the Common Fiscal is quite unusual in that a pair will hold a territory throughout the year. Most of the true shrike species (genus Lanius) from the northern hemisphere are migratory, breeding in the northern hemisphere and spending the austral summer in the southern hemisphere.
Diet
The Common Fiscal is raptorial and feeds on a wide range of invertebrates, notably insects and small vertebrates. Vertebrates comprise a very small portion of its diet and most of its prey are those considered pests to the farmer or gardener. Its main hunting method is sit-and-wait foraging and about three-quarters of its day is spent on the lookout for prey. It also hovers before pouncing and chases and flushes prey out of undergrowth. When flying insects are numerous, such as when winged termites emerge from the ground, the bird will hunt on the wing and in very windy conditions when flight becomes impossible, it will glean prey from foliage.
Breeding
Common Fiscals breed mainly between the months of August and January, with most eggs being laid in September and October. They lay three or four pale, speckled eggs, which hatch about two and a half weeks after being laid, usually over a period of two days and often one or two eggs fail to hatch.
References
- Clements, JF. 2010. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to December 2010. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019. Spreadsheet available at http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/Clements%206.5.xls/view
- Avibase
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Common Fiscal. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 22 May 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Common_Fiscal
