Bushshrike

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Malaconotidae
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Bushshrikes
A yellow-crowned gonolek (Laniarius barbarus) in Gambia
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Superfamily: Malaconotoidea
Family: Malaconotidae
Swainson, 1824
Genera

Nilaus
Dryoscopus
Tchagra
Laniarius

Rhodophoneus

Chlorophoneus
Telophorus
Malaconotus

The bushshrikes are smallish passerine birds. They were formerly classed with the true shrikes in the family Laniidae, but are now considered sufficiently distinctive to be separated from that group as the family Malaconotidae, a name that alludes to their fluffy back and rump feathers.[1]

Like their shrike-like relatives, the

vangas are their closest relatives.[3] They are found in scrub or open woodland, and less often in marshes, Afromontane
or tropical forest. They are similar in habits to shrikes, hunting insects and other small prey from a perch on a bush. Although similar in build to the shrikes, these tend to be either colourful species or largely black; some species are quite secretive.

Some bushshrikes have flamboyant displays. The male puffbacks puff out the loose feathers on their rump and lower back, to look almost ball-like.

These are mainly insectivorous forest or scrub birds. Up to four eggs are laid in a cup nest in a tree.

Taxonomy

Bock has posited that the family name Malaconotidae was first used by

Laniidae.[4]
Peters regarded the group as a subfamily, Malaconotinae, of the shrikes. In 1971, the group was raised to family status, with their resemblance to typical shrikes considered to be more a result of convergent evolution.[5]

Bushshrikes,

Platysteiridae and Vangidae, suggesting that the birds of the family Laniidae are only distant relatives.[8]

An intron-comparison study by Fuchs et al. in 2004 provided strong support for the monophyly of the Malaconotidae, but the relationships between the genera of the family remain unclear.[7] The genus Nilaus is morphologically more similar to Prionopidae than the rest of the bushshrike family is,[8] but the results presented by Fuchs et al. place it within Malaconotidae. This placement is supported by DNA/DNA hybridization data as well as studies of hind limb musculature.[9] The genus Dryoscopus consists of six small species with similar coloring, which may be closely related to birds of the genus Tchagra.[7] The genus Malaconotus consists of six species which were traditionally believed to be closely related to Telophorus due to similar coloration, but new analyses suggest a close relationship between Malaconotus and Dryoscopus and Tchagra.[7] Strong evidence exists for the monophyly of the genus Laniarius, and Fuchs et al. suggest its closest relatives are the genera Telophorous and Rhodophoneus, but the exact relationships are unclear.[7]

Description

Bushshrikes are small to medium-sized passerines, with short, rounded wings and strong legs and feet. Plumage is typically black, grey, and brown, with some yellow and green. Some bushshrikes have red undersides or red throat-patches.[10]

Distribution and habitat

Bushshrikes typically inhabit forest margins or patches of bush in

savannah.[5] Some species have been known to inhabit coffee plantations,[11] or subsist in sacred groves where riparian vegetation is informally protected from shifting cultivation.[12]

Behavior

Laniarius funebris, the slate-colored boubou, mates in monogamous pairs. It has been suggested that songs of this species are triggered more by behavioral cues than by hormone levels.

Bushshrike diets consist mainly of large insects, but occasionally may include wild fruits and berries[10] and sometimes rodents.[7] They catch their prey by gleaning among tree foliage.[5] They also join mixed bird parties, loose foraging assemblages consisting mainly of passerine birds.[2]

Their nests are generally small and neat, and they lay clutches of 2–3 eggs.[5]

Bushshrikes have distinctive harsh or guttural calls,

Laniarius funebris found that a male's likelihood of singing a mating song was correlated with his mate's estradiol levels, rather than his own testosterone levels, suggesting that behavioral cues between a mating pair, rather than hormone levels, are more important in triggering mating songs.[14]

List of species in taxonomic order

Image Genus Living Species
Nilaus Swainson, 1827
Dryoscopus F. Boie, 1826 – puffbacks
Bocagia
 Shelley, 1894
Tchagra Lesson, 1831 – tchagras
Laniarius Vieillot, 1816 – boubous and gonoleks
Rhodophoneus
 Heuglin, 1871 – rosy-patched bushshrike
Chlorophoneus Cabanis, 1850
Telophorus Swainson, 1832
Malaconotus Swainson, 1824

References

  1. ISBN 0-620-34053-3
    .
  2. ^
    ISBN 0-86980-771-4
    .
  3. PMID 15336676
    . Retrieved 24 January 2022.
  4. JSTOR 4088759
    .
  5. ^
    ISBN 978-1-4081-3505-1
    .
  6. ISBN 0-19-517234-5
    .
  7. ^
    PMID 15336676
    .
  8. ^ a b Harris, Tony (2000). Shrikes & Bush-shrikes: Including wood-shrikes, helmet-shrikes, flycatcher-shrikes, philentomas, batises and wattle-eyes. A&C Black.
  9. ^ Sibley, C.G.; Ahlquist, J.E. (1990). Phylogeny and Classification of Birds: A Study in Molecular Evolution. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
  10. ^
    ISBN 0-262-19430-9
    .
  11. ^
    doi:10.1017/S0959270904000322
    .
  12. S2CID 187391053
    .
  13. PMID 9437032
    .
  14. S2CID 9590959
    .

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Malaconotidae.
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