Grauer's cuckooshrike (''Ceblepyris graueri'') is a little known species of

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...

in the family Campephagidae. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only 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 foun ...

to the

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), also known as the DR Congo, Congo-Kinshasa, or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Republic of the Congo), is a country in Central Africa. By land area, it is t ...

. It is found in mid-elevation

montane forests Montane ecosystems are found on the slopes of mountains. The alpine climate in these regions strongly affects the ecosystem because temperatures fall as elevation increases, causing the ecosystem to stratify. This stratification is a crucial f ...

, where it can be locally common. Similar to other species endemic to the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, it is rarely reported due to ongoing

armed conflict War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or between such organi ...

in the

Albertine Rift The Albertine Rift is the western branch of the East African Rift, covering parts of Uganda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Rwanda, Burundi and Tanzania. It extends from the northern end of Lake Albert to the southern end of Lake Tan ...

Description

Appearance

A slender, medium sized passerine with a relatively long tail and graceful appearance. It's white belly is contrasted by a gray head and gray upperparts, which are a darker slaty gray in the male and a paler gray in the female. It is approximately in length.

Vocalizations

Unknown.

Taxonomy

Grauer's cuckooshrike is part of an African radiation of cuckooshrikes including gray cuckooshrike ''Ceblepyris caesius'', madagascar cuckooshrike ''C. cinereus'', Comoro cuckooshrike ''C. cucullatus'', and white-breasted cuckooshrike ''C. pectoralis''. Grauer's cuckooshrike forms the

outgroup Outgroup may refer to: * Outgroup (cladistics), an evolutionary-history concept * Outgroup (sociology) In social psychology and sociology, an in-group is a social group to which a person psychologically identifies as being a member. By cont ...

to all other mainland African cuckooshrikes.

Etymology

The name commemorates the German zoologist

Rudolf Grauer Rudolf Grauer (20 August 1870, Hellbrunn, Salzburg – 17 December 1927, Vienna) was an Austrian explorer and zoologist. He conducted zoological investigations in British East Africa (present-day Uganda) in 1905, German East Africa in 1907, a ...

who collected natural history specimens in the Belgian Congo.

Regional Variation

Monotypic.

Distribution and habitat

Distribution

Grauer's cuckooshrike is endemic to the eastern

. Reports from the

Rwenzoris The Rwenzori (also known as the Ruwenzori, Rwenzururu or Rwenjura) are a range of mountains in eastern equatorial Africa, located on the border between Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The highest peak of the Ruwenzori reaches ...

of Uganda are unsubstantiated and presently considered unconfirmed. Due to the political instability of the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, it is hard to assess the current status and distribution of birds in the region. However, a team from the

Wildlife Conservation Society The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) is a global 501(c)(3) organization, 501(c)(3) non-governmental organization, headquartered at the Bronx Zoo in New York City, with a mission to save "wildlife and wild places across the globe". Founded in ...

reported in 2013 that Grauer's Cuckoshrike "was particularly abundant" in the Kisimba-Ikobo Community Reserve, but they were "attacked by people antagonistic to the reserve". Grauer's cuckooshrike is known from other protected areas, such as Kahuzi-Biega National Park, but there are few (if any) recent records from these regions.

Habitat

This species is known from

montane forest Montane ecosystems are found on the slopes of mountains. The alpine climate in these regions strongly affects the ecosystem because temperatures lapse rate, fall as elevation increases, causing the ecosystem to stratify. This stratification is ...

and other high elevation forested habitats in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. Of the 51 specimens included in a recent study, all were from only 5 mountain ranges in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, with an altitudinal range of 1140-1900 m . The species is generally found at intermediate elevations between the lower-elevation

blue cuckooshrike The blue cuckooshrike (''Cyanograucalus azureus'') is a species of bird in the Cuckooshrike family, Campephagidae. It is widespread across the African tropical rainforest, from Sierra Leone and Liberia to eastern and south-western Democratic R ...

''Cyanograucalus azureus'' and the higher-elevation gray cuckooshrike.

Behavior

Foraging and General Behavior

Not much is known of the behavior of this species, and it is presumably similar to its congeners.

Reproduction

Lays eggs at the end of the rainy seasons, with reports from January, May, and June. Not much is known regarding the breeding behavior of this species, and more research is required.

Conservation

This species is considered Least Concern. More studies and surveys are required to assess its current status, but these are impractical given security concerns within much of this species' range. It is potentially threatened by climate change, and it has not been recently reported from some areas where it was previously known. Other threats include deforestation.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q3231535 Grauer's cuckooshrike Endemic birds of the Albertine Rift montane forests Grauer's cuckooshrike Taxonomy articles created by Polbot