White-browed Robin-chat

The white-browed robin-chat (''Cossypha heuglini''), also known as Heuglin's robin, is a species of bird in the family Muscicapidae. Found in east, central and southern Africa, its natural habitats include riverine forest and thickets, and it is also found near humans. The IUCN classifies it as a least-concern species.

Taxonomy

Hartlaub described the species from Sudan in 1866. The specific epithet is derived from Martin Theodor von Heuglin. Three subspecies are recognized: ''Cossypha heuglini subrufescens'' ranging from Gabon to western Angola; ''C. h. heuglini'' from the southern parts of Chad and Sudan to eastern Angola, Botswana, and northern South Africa; and ''C. h. intermedia'' from southern Somalia to northeastern South Africa.

Description

The white-browed robin-chat is long and weighs . The crown and face are black, and there is a white supercilium over the dark brown eye. The back is olive grey-brown, and the rump is rufous. The two central tail feathers are olive-brown, and the other feathers are orange-rufous. The flight feathers and wing coverts are grey-brown, and the underwing coverts are rufous. The underparts are bright orange-rufous. The beak is black, and the legs are pinkish-brown, brownish grey, or dark brown. The female is a little smaller than the male. The juvenile bird has a brown head and rufous-brown marks on its back. Its throat is pale, its breast is pale orange-buff, and its belly is pale orange.

Distribution and habitat

The range includes Angola, Botswana, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Gabon, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, Somalia, South Africa, South Sudan, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Its habitats include riverine forests, thickets, and also gardens. In East Africa it can be found up to above sea level, but in the part of its range south of the Limpopo River, it generally occurs at elevations below . In South Africa, its range in KwaZulu-Natal expanded south from the 1950s to the 1970s, but the damage caused by a tropical cyclone in 1987 may have stopped the expansion.

Behavior and ecology

The diet consists of ants, termites, beetles, some other insects and arthropods, frogs, and fruits. It bathes in water.

Vocalizations

The white-browed robin-chat's contact calls include repeated ''pit-porlee'', ''chiiritter-porlii'' and ''da-da-tee'' and end with ''da-teee'' or ''chickle-ter-tweep''. The alarm call is ''takata-kata-kata''. The melodious song, usually given at dawn and dusk, is quiet at first and then becomes louder; it consists of ''pip-pip-uree'', ''don't-you-do-it'' or ''tirrootirree'' phrases that can be repeated more than ten times. When singing loudly, its beak is wide open and its breast is inflated with its tail moving with each note sung. Pairs may sing in duet.

Breeding

Around the Equator, the bird probably breeds in all months of the year, and in East Africa, it breeds during the two wet seasons. In southern Africa, breeding has been recorded from July to May. It is monogamous. There are usually two and sometimes three broods per year. The female builds the nest, which is made of dead leaves, twigs, and other plant material and built in a tree hole, stump, sapling, roots, riverbank, or on the ground. It has been observed nesting near humans, on occupied buildings' walls and trellises covered with climbing plants. There are two to three eggs in a clutch. The nest is often parasitized by the red-chested cuckoo. This robin-chat is territorial and defends its territory by giving alarm calls and sometimes by attacking the intruder.

Status

''C. heuglini'' has a large range and a stable population trend, so the IUCN Red List has assessed it to be of least concern.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q222081

white-browed robin-chat
Birds of Sub-Saharan Africa
white-browed robin-chat
Taxa named by Theodor von Heuglin
Taxonomy articles created by Polbot