Cossyphe à calotte rousse

Identification

The red-capped robin-chat is a relatively large species of robin-chat with a length of 15.5 to 19 cm (6.1 to 7.5 in). The adults have an orange-rufous head, face, breast and belly with a large dark eye. The overall appearance of the head is of anplain face with the dark eye in its centre. The wings and upperparts of the body are dusky and these contrast with the dark central and bright orange outer tail feathers. The juveniles are a mottled dark brown with rufous-brown spots on the head.The upper and underparts have rufous spots, these become larger towards the belly.<p>The above applies to the nominate subspecies, C. n. natalensis. The subspecies C. c. intensa is similar to the nominate but the crown and nape are a brighter reddish colour, with no olive tones, and is slightly paler orange-rufous on the head and underparts. The subspecies C.c. larischii has slightly darker upperparts than the nominate, particularly on the crown and nape and has a lightly shorter tail.<p>The red-capped robin chat has a plaintive, tremulous contact call and has other fluty vocalisations, similar to those of other robin-chatrs. The song is a long series of melodious whistles with a lot of mimicry included.

Taxonomie

The red-capped robin-chat was first formally described in 1840 by the Scottish zoologist and physician Andrew Smith with its type locality given as near Port Natal in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. This species is a member of the genus Cossypha which is classified within the subfamily Erithacinae of the large passerine family Muscicapidae, the chats and Old World flycatchers. However, it has been argued that the name of this clade should be Cossyphinae, as this was proposed by Nicholas Aylward Vigors in 1825 and so predates Gray's 1846 Erithacinae.<p>The red-capped robin-chat is a polytypic species with 3 subspecies:

Nom scientifique

Cossypha natalensis

Autorité

Smith, A, 1840

Ordre

Passériformes

Famille

Muscicapidae

Genre

Cossypha

Répartition et habitat

The red-capped robin-chat has a wide distribution in eastern and southern Africa. C. n. larischi is found in central and south eastern Nigeria, near Yaoundé in Cameroon, southwestern Gabon and southern Republic of Congo as far north as the Téké Plateau and south into northern and western Angola. The most wodespread sunspecies is C.n. intensa which occurs as far north as South Sudan, southwestern Ethiopia and southern Somalia south to northwestern and eastern Zimbabwe and northern and central Mozambique where it intergrades with the nominate subso=pecies which is found in southern Mozambique, Eswatini and northeastern and southeastern South Africa in Limpopo Province, KwaZulu-Natal as far as the Transkei District in the Eastern Cape.<p>The red-capped robin-chat is a bird that lives in the undergrowth of evergreen forest, this includes coastal forests, riverine forests, sand forests and highland forests below the cloud forest level. During the summer it expands its range to include well vegetated gullies and tickets within drier habitats such as bushveld and thornveld. In KwaZulu-Natal this is a common species of gardens where it lives in shrubberies.<p>The red-capped robin-chat is both sedentary and partially migratory, with 1st calendar year birds being nomadic. The northern most populations in South Sudan are very rare in the period between December and February, returning to their breeding territories in early March. It is a dry season visitor to coastal areas in Tanzania and Mozambique, while in Zimbabwe it is absent from the higher parts of the Eastern Highlands between March and late August. In many areas it is known as a nomadic, dry season visitor with sporadic and fleeting appearances. Vagrants have been recorded from Botswana, the Western Cape and Orange Free State.

Migration

Resident species

Conservation

Tendance de la population

stable