White-crowned cliff chat
| White-crowned cliff chat | |
|---|---|
| Not recognized (IUCN 3.1) | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Family: | Muscicapidae |
| Genus: | Thamnolaea |
| Species: | T. coronata |
| Binomial name | |
| Thamnolaea coronata (Reichenow, 1902)[1] | |
| Synonyms | |
|
Myrmecocichla coronata | |
The white-crowned cliff chat (Thamnolaea coronata) is a species of is a species of chat in the family Muscicapidae which occurs in rocky habitats in much of western Sub-Saharan Africa.
Description
There are three subspecies and only the nominate subspecies has the white crown of the white-crowned cliff chat, although it is individually variable in extent and sometime consists of just a few feathers. The males are black above with white shoulder patches. These patches are larges in the subspecies T.c. cavernicola, smaller in T.c. bambarae and absent in the nominate. They all have rufous on the belly and vent, with a pale line separating the balck of the breat from the rest of theunderparts on T.c. cavernicola, lacking on T.c. bambarae and wider on T.c. coronata. Additional T.c. cavernicola has a rufous rump. The females are similar to males and are duller, lacking any white shoulder patches or white borders on underparts. The female T.c. coronata has a paler head and the whole of her underparts are rufous.Length is 20 cm.[2]
Voice
A melodious rich and far carrying song with lost of mimicked phrases, often pairs duet.[2]
Distribution, subspecies and taxonomy
The three currently recognised subsepceis are listed below with their distributions:[1][3]
- Thamnolaea coronata bambarae Bates, 1928: Southern Mauritania, eastern Senegal and south-western Mali.
- Thamnolaea coronata cavernicola Bates, 1933: Central Mali in the Mopti region.
- Thamnolaea coronata coronata Reichenow, 1902: northern Ivory Coast and eastern Burkina Faso east patchily to western South Sudan.
It is sometimes considered a subspecies of the mocking cliff chat.[3] Especially as many birds, even within the range of T.c. coronata do not have white crowns.[2]
Habitat and habits
The white-crowned cliff chat is found in inselbergs, cliffs and escarpments in savanna.[2]
Usually seen in pairs. Often slowly raises and lowers its tail, fanning it as it raises it vertically over the bird's back.[2]
External links
References
- 1 2 "Thamnolaea coronata Reichenow, 1902". Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) (http://www.itis.gov). Retrieved 2016-11-20.
- 1 2 3 4 5 Borrow, Nik; Demey, Ron (2001). Birds of Western Africa. A & C Black. p. 615. ISBN 0-7136-3959-8.
- 1 2 "Mocking Cliff-chat (Thamnolaea cinnamomeiventris)". HBW Alive. Lynx Edicions. Retrieved 2016-11-20.