White-headed Mousebird

Description


Description from View on Wikipedia →

The white-headed mousebird (Colius leucocephalus) is a bird belonging to the mousebird family, Coliidae. It is found only in east Africa where it occurs in southern Somalia and parts of Kenya with its range just extending into southern Ethiopia and northern Tanzania. It inhabits arid bushland up to 1,400 metres above sea-level.

It is 32 cm long with the long, graduated tail accounting for over half of this. The plumage is mainly greyish with black and white barring on the back, neck and breast. It has a white crest, crown and cheeks. There is a white stripe down the back which becomes visible when the bird flies. Around the eye is a patch of dark, bare skin. The bill is bluish-white above and buff below. In juvenile birds, the throat and breast are buff. The northern subspecies (C. l. turneri) is darker than the southern form (C. l. leucocephalus).

The contact call is a scratchy chattering and the bird also has a descending song.

References

  1. ^ BirdLife International (2016). "Colius leucocephalus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2016: e.T22683780A93000938. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22683780A93000938.en. Retrieved 11 November 2021.
  • Sinclair, Ian & Ryan, Peter (2003) Birds of Africa south of the Sahara, Struik, Cape Town.
  • Zimmerman, Dale A.; Turner, Donald A. & Pearson, David J. (1999) Birds of Kenya & Northern Tanzania, Christopher Helm, London.

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article "White-headed mousebird", which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0. Content may have been omitted from the original, but no content has been changed or extended.

Common Names


  • Unknown Name ( Unknown Language , Unknown Country )
  • Taxonomic Hierarchy


    Kingdom: Animalia

    Phylum: Chordata

    Class: Aves

    Order: Coliiformes

    Family: Coliidae

    Genus: Colius

    Species: White-headed Mousebird

    Conservation Status


    least concern (LC)

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