White-crested Helmetshrike
Prionops plumatus
A sociable, cartoon-like, black-and-white helmetshrike with a grayish crest and a piercing yellow eye and eye-wattle. Groups fly with a labored flight action, showing a conspicuous pied pattern. Close-knit parties of 5 to 10 birds forage restlessly in mixed- or single-species flocks in broadleaf woodland and arid savanna, looking for insects at middle and lower levels. Groups give strange ratcheting and ringing calls, including clicks and whistles.
Taxonomy
- Scientific name
- Prionops plumatus
- Authority
- (Shaw, 1809)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Prionopidae
- Genus
- Prionops
Range and habitat
It is found in Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Eritrea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests, dry savanna, moist savanna, and subtropical or tropical dry shrubland.
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
It is a gregarious bird and is found in small, active parties that are always on the move as they forage among the foliage or on the ground. They chatter noisily to one another as they move through their territory.
Conservation
- Population trend
- stable
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
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