Angola Batis
Batis minulla
A cute and striking gray, white, and black flycatcher-like bird with a yellow eye, white wingbars, and a white spot above the bill base. Sexes differ: male’s chest band is black and female’s is chestnut. Pairs hunt for insects, sometimes joining flocks, in woodland, dry forest, and dense thickets. Calls include a series of 15–20 clear high-pitched “seeet” notes that slowly descend, and a typical batis churring and croaking. Male Angola Batis looks almost identical to male Chinspot Batis, but the latter prefers drier savanna habitat and calls differently; female Chinspot has a distinctive brown spot on the chin; the larger Black-headed Batis has a complete eyebrow.
Identification
The Angola batis is a small pied songbird with a rather dumpy appearance and a restless nature. The adult males have a bluish grey forehead and crown with a small white spot on the lores and a glossy black mask across the eyes, extending on to the nape and down the sides of the neck with a white spot on the nape. It has a grey mantle, blackish scapulars with the back, rump and uppertail covers being blackish grey with white spots. The wings have black flight feathers with narrow white edges. There is a white wing stripe. The trail is black with white outer tail feathers. The underparts are white except for a black band across the breast and the greyish undertail coverts. The eyes are bright yellow while the bill and legs are black. The female is similar to the male but her breast band is chestnut rather than black. They are about 10 cm (3.9 in) long and weigh 10.4 g (0.37 oz).<p>The calls of the Angola batis are little known, the territorial call is a series of high-pitched notes, "zee-zee-zee-zee-zee", which has been likened to a squeaky bicycle pump.
Taxonomy
- Scientific name
- Batis minulla
- Authority
- (Barboza du Bocage, 1874)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Platysteiridae
- Genus
- Batis
Range and habitat
The presence of the Angola batis in south eastern Gabon is yet to be confirmed but the species occurs in the southern Congo through western Democratic Republic of Congo into northern Angola south to the Quiçama National Park, 70 km (43 mi) from Luanda.
- Migration
- Resident species
Conservation
- Population trend
- stable
Photos
Distribution
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