Angola Helmetshrike
Prionops gabela
A gregarious, cartoonish, mostly gray-brown helmetshrike with a black head, piercing orange eyes, red legs and eye-wattles, and an orange-tipped red bill. Pairs and flocks of 4–10 inhabit mature dry and secondary forest, plantations, and thickets in a narrow range along the Angolan escarpment, where it is endemic and endangered. Calls are complex and include grating, whistling, and nasal notes. The similar Retz’s Helmetshrike is larger and darker than Angola, with a broader, more obvious wingbar in flight; ranges mostly do not overlap.
Taxonomy
- Scientific name
- Prionops gabela
- Authority
- Rand, 1957
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Vangidae
- Genus
- Prionops
Range and habitat
- Migration
- Resident species
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
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