Southern Boubou
Laniarius ferrugineus
A plump, dark-backed bushshrike with a creamy throat; buff-rufous flanks, thighs and belly; and a striking white stripe on the dark wing. The female is duller and less glossy than the male. Pairs are shy and skulking residents of thickets and tangles in fynbos, forest, and woodland. The species forages furtively by creeping stealthily and hopping slowly, close to the ground. Normally boubous are first detected by their loud distinctive ringing duets: “wheeet-whee-do-do-do”; their single loud “wheee” notes; and a rattling scold like the vibrating of a seed-pod shaker. The similar Tropical Boubou has paler underparts than the Southern Boubou.
Identification
The male southern boubou is a fairly distinctive 20–22 cm long bird with black upperparts extending from the top of the head down to the tail, a striking white wing stripe, and a relatively long black tail with white outer feathers. The underparts are white shading to rufous on the lower belly, undertail and flanks. The bill, eyes and legs are black.<p>The female is similar to the male, but dark grey above and with a rufous wash to the breast. Young birds are like the female, but mottled buff-brown above, have a buff wash to the wing bar, and are barred below.<p>The rufous on the underparts, which gives this species its scientific name, distinguishes it from the tropical and swamp boubous. It superficially resembles the southern fiscal, Lanius collaris, but is shorter tailed, has more white in the wing, and is much less conspicuous in its habits.
Taxonomy
The southern boubou was formally described in 1788 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in his revised and expanded edition of Carl Linnaeus's Systema Naturae. He placed it with the shrikes in the genus Lanius and coined the binomial name Lanius ferrugineus. The specific epithet is Latin meaning "rusty-coloured". Gmelin based his description on the "ferruginous bellied shrike" that had been described in 1781 by the English ornithologist John Latham in his book A General Synopsis of Birds. Latham had examined a specimen from South Africa that formed part of the collection of a Mrs Blomefield. The southern boubou is now one of 22 species placed in the genus Laniarius that was introduced in 1816 by the French ornithologist Louis Pierre Vieillot. A molecular phylogenetic study published in 2008 found that the southern boubou was sister to the East Coast boubou (Laniarius sublacteus).<p>Six subspecies are recognised:
- Scientific name
- Laniarius ferrugineus
- Authority
- (Gmelin, JF, 1788)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Malaconotidae
- Genus
- Laniarius
Range and habitat
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
Unlike the true shrikes, which perch conspicuously in the open, the southern boubou prefers to forage in dense vegetation close to the ground, a habit which has led to its being called shy and skulking. The food is mainly insects, taken from the ground or picked off vegetation as the bird creeps low in bushes. It will also take small rodents, lizards snails and fruits.<p>The southern boubou has a duetted call, with a ooo-whee-ooo, followed by a whistled ooo-ooo-wheee or wheee-wheee followed by ooo-whee-ooo. The duet has many variations and the liquid ooo-whee-ooo call may be mistaken for that of a black-headed oriole. Its alarm call is a muted cluck.
Conservation
- Population trend
- stable
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Cape Eagle-Owl
Bubo capensis
Large, dark, powerfully-built owl. Has orange eyes and rufous tones to the plumage, on both the back and the underparts. Found in rugged and rocky terrain, mainly in the mountains, though down to sea level in southern Africa. Uncommon to rare across its range. Call is 2–3 deep hoots. Similar to Spotted Eagle-Owl, but larger, with bright-orange eyes, more rufous in the plumage, and coarser markings below.
Oriole Cuckooshrike
Lobotos oriolinus
A spectacular cuckooshrike that resembles an oriole, with a yellow-green back, wings and tail, yellow underparts, a dark head and bill, and large fleshy orange wattles under the eyes. The sexes differ slightly: the head of the male is jet black and the female has a less contrasting brownish head. Juvenile is like the female but barred above, with a less distinct head pattern. Rare, found singly or in pairs in the canopy of primary and secondary lowland forest, often near water. Moves stealthily through the canopy, where it joins mixed-species parties; flight call is a thrush-like “tsik.” Differs from forest orioles by having a dark (not red) bill and fleshy wattles under the eyes.
Golden-olive Woodpecker
Colaptes rubiginosus
Widespread ‘green woodpecker’ of tropical and subtropical forest; the only species of overall green woodpecker in much of its range, and therefore distinctive. Prefers mid-upper levels of forest, where can be very sluggish, and is overlooked easily unless its calls are known. Both sexes have red on back of head. ‘Bronze-winged Woodpecker’ of Northeast Mexico has less red on head, and very different voice from widespread Golden-olive forms.
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