Alternative names: Puvel's Akalat; Puvel's Thrush-Babbler
- Illadopsis puveli
Identification
17 - 18cm. A Thrush-like Babbler, very similar to Rufous-winged Illadopsis:
- Rufous-tinged brwon crown with vague mottling
- Upperparts and tail rufous-brown
- Brown head-sides and lores with a vague buffy supercilium
- Whitish streaks on cheek
- Whitish underparts with warm peachy buff across breast, breast side brown
- Bill with black to blackish upper mandible, lower mandible yellow
Confusion species
Very similar to Rufous-winged Illadopsis and best distinguished by voice and habitat. Note also bill (yellow lower mandible) and buff breast band (not greyish)
Distribution
Found in West Africa from Gambia and Senegal east to Nigeria and Cameroon. Also in extreme northeast Democratic Republic of Congo, extreme south Sudan and west Uganda.
Uncommon to common in its range.
Taxonomy
Two subspecies recognized:
- I. p. puveli from Senegal and Gambia east to Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana and Togo
- I. p. strenuipes in Nigeria and Cameroon and an isolated population in extreme northeast Democratic Republic of Congo, extreme south Sudan and west Uganda
Habitat
Undergrowth in lowland gallery forest, farmbush, riverine and ravine thickets, second growth, forest-grassland mosaic and savanna. Up to 1500m in Liberia.
Behaviour
Feeds on invertebrates (ants, spiders and others).
Usually seen singly or in pairs, also joins bird waves. Forages on the ground in leaf litter, running from one place to the other.
Breeding season November in Ivory Coast, March in Sudan. One described nest was a mossy cup 2m high in a tree fork and held two nestlings.
Resident species.
References
- Del Hoyo, J, A Elliott, and D Christie, eds. 2007. Handbook of the Birds of the World. Volume 12: Picathartes to Tits and Chickadees. Barcelona: Lynx Edicions. ISBN 978-8496553422
- Clements, JF. 2008. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to December 2008. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019.
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Puvel's Illadopsis. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 11 May 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Puvel%27s_Illadopsis
