The northern puffback (''Dryoscopus gambensis'') is a 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 Malaconotidae. It is found in northern

sub-Saharan Africa Sub-Saharan Africa is the area and regions of the continent of Africa that lie south of the Sahara. These include Central Africa, East Africa, Southern Africa, and West Africa. Geopolitically, in addition to the list of sovereign states and ...

. It forms a

superspecies In biology, a species complex is a group of closely related organisms that are so similar in appearance and other features that the boundaries between them are often unclear. The taxa in the complex may be able to hybridize readily with each oth ...

with the

black-backed puffback The black-backed puffback (''Dryoscopus cubla'') is a species of passerine bird in the family Malaconotidae. They are common to fairly common sedentary bushshrikes in various wooded habitats in Africa south of the equator. They restlessly move ...

, which replaces it in eastern equatorial and southern Africa.

Habitat

Its natural

habitat In ecology, habitat refers to the array of resources, biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species' habitat can be seen as the physical manifestation of its ...

s are subtropical or tropical moist lowland

forest A forest is an ecosystem characterized by a dense ecological community, community of trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, ...

s, subtropical or tropical mangrove forests, and moist

savanna A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) biome and ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach th ...

Subspecies

There are five accepted subspecies: * ''D. g. gambensis'' (M. H. C. Lichtenstein, 1823) – Senegambia to coastal Gabon * ''D. g. congicus'' Sharpe, 1901 – lower catchment of

Congo River The Congo River, formerly also known as the Zaire River, is the second-longest river in Africa, shorter only than the Nile, as well as the third-largest river in the world list of rivers by discharge, by discharge volume, following the Amazon Ri ...

* ''D. g. malzacii'' (Heuglin, 1870) – eastern Cameroon to northwestern Tanzania * ''D. g. erythreae'' Neumann, 1899 – Eritrea to South Sudan * ''D. g. erwini'' Sassi, 1923 – Itombwe in eastern

DRC 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 ...

Gallery

File:Dryoscopus gambensis (Malaconotidae) (Northern Puffback) - (male), Mole National Park, Ghana, crop.jpg, Male ''D. g. gambensis'' at

Mole National Park Mole National Park, one of Ghana's seven national parks, is the country's largest wildlife refuge. The park is located in the Savannah region of Ghana on savanna and riparian ecosystems at an elevation of 50 m, with a sharp escarpment formi ...

, Ghana File:Northern Puffback, Gambia (11131498496), crop.jpg, Male ''D. g. gambensis'' in

The Gambia The Gambia, officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a country in West Africa. Geographically, The Gambia is the List of African countries by area, smallest country in continental Africa; it is surrounded by Senegal on all sides except for ...

File:NorthernPuffback.jpg, Male ''D. g. malzacii'' at Lake Nakuru N.P., Kenya

References

northern puffback Birds of Sub-Saharan Africa northern puffback Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Malaconotidae-stub