Black-backed Puffback
Dryoscopus cubla
A small, canopy-loving black-and-white shrike with a fiery red eye. When excited, males can raise fluffy white feathers on the rump to resemble a puffball. The sexes differ, with males clean-cut and females duller and more cream-and-gray in coloration. Singles and pairs frequently join mixed-species flocks foraging agilely for insects, working the canopy of dense broadleaf woodland and riverine, lowland, and montane forest. Black-backed Puffbacks are often detected by their characteristic song: a loud click followed by a whistled wheeeoo,” the combination given repeatedly.
Identification
They measure about 17 cm in length, and the sexes are similar though easily distinguishable. Adult males have the upperparts deep blue-black with a slight luster. The black cap subtends the red eye, the upperpart plumage is black-and-white, and the underparts pure white. Females have a black loral stripe and white supraloral feathering, with the ear coverts pale and the crown not solidly black. They also have greyer backs than males, and grey to buffy tones to the white plumage tracts. Immature birds resemble females, but have brownish bills and brown irides, while the upperparts and flanks are still greyer, and the underparts and edges of the wing feathers are yet more buffy. Intraspecific variation is clinal. Range, iris colour, wing markings and the female plumage assist in separating it from other puffback species.
Taxonomy
- Scientific name
- Dryoscopus cubla
- Authority
- (Latham, 1801)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Malaconotidae
- Genus
- Dryoscopus
Range and habitat
They occur mainly south of the equator in sub-Saharan Africa, from southern Somalia to coastal South Africa. From the vicinity of the equator and northwards it is replaced by the somewhat larger northern puffback, with which it forms a superspecies.<p>They are commonly found in gardens, riparian thickets, mangroves, woodlands, moist (or less commonly arid) savanna, bushveld and especially towards the south, fringes of afromontane forest. They are present from sea level to some 2,200 m.a.s.l., and are the only puffback species to occur over much of their range. Highest reporting rates are from the densest woodlands, though all woodland types, including Racosperma plantations, are utilized. In southern Africa the highest reporting rates are from miombo (including the Eastern Highlands), gusu, mopane, various mixed woodlands, whether moist or arid, and riparian fringing forest, including that of the Okavango Delta.<p>A density of 1 pair per 42 ha was recorded in broadleaved Terminalia-Burkea woodland at Nylsvley, South Africa, and a breeding territory is thought to encompass some 4 ha. Intensive farming and human pressure have destroyed large tracts of their natural habitat in the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal provinces of South Africa. They are naturally absent from arid Acacia scrub, Acacia savanna on the Zimbabwean plateau, and the treeless highveld and alpine regions of southern Africa. It also avoids the Congo Basin and, for the most part, tree canopies at the interior of afromontane forests.
- Migration
- Resident species
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Crested Eagle
Morphnus guianensis
A huge, rare eagle, found in large swaths of mature lowland and foothill forests through much of Central and South America. Always rare and infrequently seen; any day with a Crested Eagle deserves a gold star. Light morph adults are dark gray above and whitish below with a gray head and breast and barred belly. Dark morph is very rare and is dark gray overall with white barring on belly. The similar Harpy Eagle (which does not have a dark morph) has a more contrasting black chest and lacks barring on the belly. Juvenile Crested Eagle is mostly white with darker wings; separated from Harpy Eagle by slightly smaller size and slimmer shape. Most often seen perched in the canopy of mature lowland forest, but occasionally soars.
Southern Black-Tit
Melaniparus niger
A large, active, noisy black tit with white shoulders, white edgings to the wing feathers, and a barred gray-and-white undertail. Pairs and small groups form the core of mixed-species feeding flocks in broadleaf woodland and thorn scrub. The species is often detected by its noisy buzzing and chirping vocalizations, including a sweet-and-scratchy “diddy-dzee-dzee-dzee-dzee-dzee.” The very similar Carp’s Tit is black under the tail; ranges only narrowly overlap.
Southern Hyliota
Hyliota australis
Mid-sized, generic-looking warbler-like bird. Males have a matte black back, a white wing patch, and very pale yellowish underparts. Females are similar, but browner on the back. Found mainly in broadleaf savanna, and locally in humid forest. Usually in pairs or small groups, which will join mixed-species feeding flocks. The quiet vocalizations include chatty calls and trills. Very similar to Yellow-bellied Hyliota. In most of the range, Southern males distinguished by the smaller white patch on the wing, and females by their browner upperparts. In Uganda and Kenya, males are extremely similar, but Southern can still be recognized by its non-glossy black back.
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