Western Black-headed Batis
Batis erlangeri
A typical black, white, and dark-gray batis. Note the chest band, which is black in males and chestnut in females. Found in woodland and moist savanna, often in pairs. Very similar to Gray-headed Batis, and best distinguished by voice, but also usually shows a darker gray crown. Also similar to Senegal and Pale Batises, but has a narrower white eyebrow stripe than the former and is darker overall than the latter. The distinctive song is a series of hollow whistles on the same pitch.
Identification
The western black-headed batis (Batis erlangeri) or Von Erlanger's batis, is a species of passerine bird in the wattle-eye family Platysteiridae. It is found over an extensive area of central Africa. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests and moist savanna. It was formerly treated as conspecific with the eastern black-headed batis (Batis minor). Two subspecies are recognised: B. e. erlangeri Neumann, 1907 – north Cameroon to Ethiopia south to Uganda, west Kenya and Burundi B. e. congoensis Neumann, 1907 – south Congo, southwest Democratic Republic of the Congo, west Angola
Taxonomy
Genus: Batis; Family: Platysteiridae; Order: Passeriformes.
- Scientific name
- Batis erlangeri
- Authority
- Neumann, 1907
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Platysteiridae
- Genus
- Batis
Range and habitat
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
Migration pattern: Resident species.
Conservation
Population trend: declining.
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Spotted Laughingthrush
Ianthocincla ocellata
Handsome large laughingthrush with a dark cap and throat. Wings and tail are coffee-colored with blue-gray highlights along the edges. Black-and-white spotting on the upper body is densest on the back and breast. Combination of dark throat and cap is unique. Moves in pairs and small flocks through the undergrowth in open forest and scrubby areas at high altitude. Listen for its often piercingly loud, somewhat disjointed-sounding whistles coming from dense bamboo or rhododendron groves.
Sulawesi White-eye
Zosterops consobrinorum
A small songbird with a bold white eye-ring, dark eyes, a green back and forehead, a yellow throat and base to undertail, and a white belly. Groups and pairs roam woods, forest edges and patches, gardens, cultivated spaces, and scrub. Confined to lowlands of southeast Sulawesi. Occurs at lower elevations than Warbling White-eye, and differs from it in the dark eye and green forehead. Separated from Lemon-bellied White-eye by the white belly. Gives a slow-paced, high-pitched descending tinkling song, “chi-chiwit-chit-cher-cher.” Also high “zit” notes.
Kerguelen Tern
Sterna virgata
A slender tern with a short bill. Breeding adults are dark-capped with an ashy-gray body, a strongly contrasting white cheek stripe and rump, and a reddish bill and legs. In flight, underwings and uppertail are mostly grayish. In non-breeding plumage resembles other non-breeding terns, but note structure. Restricted to a handful of subantarctic islands, where it forages in inshore waters; common on Kerguelen and uncommon on Crozet and Marion. In breeding plumage, the larger Antarctic Tern is paler gray than Kerguelen, with a larger bill and whitish (not grayish) uppertail and underwings. Arctic Terns (in non-breeding plumage) only overlap with Kerguelen Terns (in breeding plumage) in austral summer.
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