Monteiro's Bushshrike
Malaconotus monteiri
A large, robust bushshrike with a massive head, a chunky hook-tipped bill, and a gray eye and head; a white patch on the face often extends above and below the eye. Wings are green, spotted with yellow. Pairs skulk at middle levels and in the canopy of montane and gallery forest and plantation edges, seldom joining flocks. The species forages slowly and deliberately, hopping along branches, diligently searching for food. Gray-headed Bushshrike, which prefers savanna, differs from the larger Monteiro’s by having pale yellow eyes and a white facial patch that is restricted to the area between the eye and bill base. Monteiro’s gives a low-pitched extended sorrowful “whhooooooo” song repeatedly, along with various harsh clicks and rasps.
Taxonomy
Two described subspecies: nominate Malaconotus m. monteiri (Shape, 1870) described from Angola, and M. m. perspicillatus (Reichenow, 1894) known from only a single specimen in Cameroon. Subspecies perspicillatus differs from the nominate in having a larger bill and paler undersides.<p>Presumed to be closely related to other Malaconotus, and has been considered conspecific with both gray-headed bushshrike M. blanchoti and fiery-breasted bushshrike M. cruentus in the past. Cameroonian M. m. perspicillatus has also been theorized to be a color morph of the green-breasted bushshrike. The specific phylogenetic relationships of M. monteiri are, as of yet, unknown.
- Scientific name
- Malaconotus monteiri
- Authority
- (Sharpe, 1870)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Malaconotidae
- Genus
- Malaconotus
Range and habitat
It is found in Angola and Cameroon, with a historical record from the Albertine Rift of eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo and a lost specimen from Kakamega Forest, Kenya.<p>This species' habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests. In Angola, the nominate subspecies is found primarily along the Angolan Escarpment, with a distribution mirroring that of other Angolan endemic taxa.<p>This species is largely unknown outside of Angola. Cameroonian birds are described as the subspecies Malaconotus monteiri perspicillatus based on a single specimen from Mt. Cameroon in 1894. The subspecies of records in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Kenya has not been confirmed, though the Congolese record has tentatively assigned to perspicillatus in the past. There are scattered sightings of reported individuals in other mountain ranges in western Cameroon (namely, Mt. Kupé and the nearby Bakossi Mountains), though these records are usually considered unconfirmed.<p>It is probably threatened by habitat loss like other birds in its range, but its actual status remains unknown due to its elusiveness.
- Migration
- Resident species
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
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