Yellow-billed Shrike
Corvinella corvina
A large, very long-tailed streaky brownish shrike with a paler eyebrow and underparts, a rusty wing panel, and a chunky bright yellow bill and eye-ring. Resident, found in gregarious family groups and nomadic flocks inhabiting arid savanna and woodland. From a perch at middle height, it swoops onto invertebrates and small vertebrates, often on the ground. Vocalizations include a complex and varied series of noisy chatters, shrieks, and rasping buzzes, often given collectively by the group, but the main pair may also duet.
Identification
The yellow-billed shrike is 32 cm (13 in) with a long, graduating tail and short wings. The adult has mottled brown upperparts and streaked buff underparts. It has a brown eye mask and a rufous wing patch, and the bill is yellow. Sexes are largely similar, but females have maroon patches on the flanks, while males have rufous parches; these patches are only visible when the bird is in flight, displaying, engaging in territorial disputes, or preening. Immature birds show buff fringes to the wing feathers. The legs and feet are black, and the beak is yellow, even in juveniles. It is a noisy bird, with harsh swee-swee and dreee-too calls.
Taxonomy
- Scientific name
- Corvinella corvina
- Authority
- Shaw, 1809
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Laniidae
- Genus
- Corvinella
Range and habitat
The species is resident in tropical Africa, south of the Sahara and north of the equator, but is not present in the Horn of Africa. It is present in Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Côte d'Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Sudan, Sudan, Togo, and Uganda. It makes localised movements, but these have been little studied.
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
This is a conspicuous and gregarious bird and a cooperative breeder, always seen in groups, often lined up on telephone wires. The nest is a cup structure in a bush or tree into which four or five eggs are laid. Only one female in a group breeds at a given time, with other members providing protection and food.<p>The yellow-billed shrike feeds on insects, which it locates from prominent look-out perches in trees, wires, or posts. They also sometimes eat small frogs, reptiles, and mice, but are not known to eat other birds or to form larders.
Conservation
- Population trend
- unknown
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
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