The Fernando Pó batis, also known as the Bioko batis, (''Batis poensis'') is a species of
bird
Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweigh ...
in the family
Platysteiridae
Platysteiridae is a family of small, stout passerine birds of the African tropics. The family contains the wattle-eyes, batises and shrike-flycatchers. They were previously classed as a subfamily of the Old World flycatchers, Muscicapidae. These ...
. It is
endemic
Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...
to the island of
Bioko in
Equatorial Guinea
Equatorial Guinea ( es, Guinea Ecuatorial; french: Guinée équatoriale; pt, Guiné Equatorial), officially the Republic of Equatorial Guinea ( es, link=no, República de Guinea Ecuatorial, french: link=no, République de Guinée équatoria ...
.
Description
The Fernando Pó batis is small, restless flycatcher type bird with a mainly black and white plumage. The head and mantle are glossy blue-black with a small white loral spot, which occasionally extends back to create a narrow supercilium. The back is blackish grey with small white spots on the rump and lower back. The wings are black with a white stripe, the tail is black with narrow white lines on the outer tail. The male has white underparts with a black breast band. Females are similar to males but are duller above with a chestnut rather than black breast band. Juveniles are similar to females but look dingier.
They are long and weigh .
Distribution and habitat
Endemic to the island of Bioko, formerly known as Fernando Pó, where it inhabits the lowland forest up to the
ecotone
An ecotone is a transition area between two biological communities, where two communities meet and integrate. It may be narrow or wide, and it may be local (the zone between a field and forest) or regional (the transition between forest and gras ...
with the montane forest, at .
[
]
Habits
The Fernando Pó batis is restless and shy, highly arboreal and forages within the canopy of tall trees. It forages for insects by gleaning foliage, by flycatching or by picking prey off leaves while briefly hovering. Large insects with hard exoskeleton
An exoskeleton (from Greek ''éxō'' "outer" and ''skeletós'' "skeleton") is an external skeleton that supports and protects an animal's body, in contrast to an internal skeleton (endoskeleton) in for example, a human. In usage, some of the ...
s are rubbed and hit against a branch before being dismembered. It will join other species in mixed foraging flocks. Little is known about the breeding biology but fledged juveniles have been seen in October. The nest is built in the outer fork of a branch by both birds in the pair, using bark strips and fibres.[
]
Taxonomy
The Fernando Pó batis is some times lumped with the West African batis (''Batis occulta''), but both are now considered distinct species.
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1310288
Fernando Pó batis
Endemic birds of Bioko
Fernando Pó batis
Taxonomy articles created by Polbot