The orange-breasted bushshrike or sulphur-breasted bushshrike (''Chlorophoneus sulfureopectus'') 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. Another bird,

Braun's bushshrike Braun's bushshrike (''Laniarius brauni'') is a species of bird in the family Malaconotidae. It is endemic to Angola. An alternative name for this bird is the orange-breasted bushshrike, but the English name is also used for '' Chlorophoneus sul ...

, is also sometimes called the orange-breasted bushshrike.

Distribution and habitat

The orange-breasted bushshrike is widespread throughout

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 ...

(relatively absent from most of Central, Southern and the

Horn of Africa The Horn of Africa (HoA), also known as the Somali Peninsula, is a large peninsula and geopolitical region in East Africa.Robert Stock, ''Africa South of the Sahara, Second Edition: A Geographical Interpretation'', (The Guilford Press; 2004), ...

). 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 dry

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, dry

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 ...

and moist savanna. It is not a migrant species.

Behaviour

The bushshrike eats mainly insects, such as beetles, caterpillars, bees, ants, and wasps. Chlorophoneus sulfureopectus, Polokwane Wildtuin.jpg, At Polokwane Game Reserve, Limpopo Sulphur breasted bushshrike (Malaconotus sulfureopectus similis) Kruger.jpg, Juvenile ''T. s. similis'' at

Kruger National Park Kruger National Park () is a national park in South Africa covering an area of in the provinces of Limpopo and Mpumalanga in the country's northeast. It extends from north to south and from east to west. The administrative headquarters are i ...

Malaconotus sulfureopectus (Zambia).jpg, Adult bird in

Zambia Zambia, officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa. It is typically referred to being in South-Central Africa or Southern Africa. It is bor ...

References

* BirdLife International 2016. [BirdLife International. 2016. Chlorophoneus sulfureopectus. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016: e.T22707647A94133019. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22707647A94133019.en. Downloaded on 7 December 2018.] Hockey PAR, Dean WRJ and Ryan PG 2005. Roberts - Birds of southern Africa, VIIth ed. The Trustees of the John Voelcker Bird Book Fund, Cape Town.

External links

* Orange-breasted Bushshrike
Species text in The Atlas of Southern African Birds

Photo at The Internet Bird Collection
orange-breasted bushshrike Birds of Sub-Saharan Africa orange-breasted bushshrike Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Malaconotidae-stub