Yellow-breasted Boubou
Laniarius atroflavus
A striking bicolored bushshrike that is easily identified if seen well: glossy blue-black above and brilliant orange-yellow below. Juvenile is duller, browner above with buffy spots on the wings. Singles and pairs prefer the undergrowth and thickets and tangles of montane forest between 700 and 2900 meters of elevation, regularly haunting forest edges, but occasionally climbing into the canopy to forage. Calls are variable, but mostly comprise loud ringing whistles answered by swishing, electric buzzing, and grating notes in a synchronized duet. Some calls are like those of Western Boubou.
Taxonomy
- Scientific name
- Laniarius atroflavus
- Authority
- Shelley, 1887
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Malaconotidae
- Genus
- Laniarius
Range and habitat
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
November marks the start of the breeding season, which is typically ends in late March. Two eggs are present in the clutch.
Conservation
- Population trend
- stable
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Black-throated Antbird
Myrmophylax atrothorax
Medium-sized antbird of dense understory and riverside vegetation. Males are deep chestnut-brown, with black throat and white wing spots; females are lighter red-brown above, light tan below, with white wing spots as in male. Typically found in dense vegetation along rivers, particularly common in dense cane stands; sometimes also found away from water around forest edges and in tree fall gaps. Listen for an ascending series of high, whiny notes, decelerating then accelerating.
Chestnut-crested Antbird
Rhegmatorhina cristata
Striking, medium-sized antbird, brown above and rich chestnut below, with a black face and broad white bare eye-ring. Females have thin black bars above. Inhabits the understory of humid forest, where it is always found foraging at army-ant swarms. The song is a series of ascending whistles that finishes with harsh descending notes.
Principe Seedeater
Crithagra rufobrunnea
An incredibly dowdy small seedeater with a pink-horn bill and a pale throat. On São Tomé its color is gray-brown and on Príncipe more buffy-cinnamon. On São Tomé it is a common resident in most habitats from primary forest to suburban gardens up to 1500 meters of elevation; on Príncipe it is uncommon and more restricted to forest. Song is variable, but mostly a strident, rapidly delivered series of high-pitched notes “tseet-teet-teet-teet-tseeu-tseeu-tseeu” or similar; call is a slurred “tshweet.” The much larger Sao Tome Grosbeak is chestnut in color and rare in remote forest on São Tomé; Yellow-fronted Canary is much brighter.
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