The black-fronted bushshrike (''Chlorophoneus nigrifrons'') is a

passerine A passerine () is any bird of the order Passeriformes (; from Latin 'sparrow' and '-shaped'), which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds, passerines are distinguished from other orders of birds by t ...

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 ...

of the

bushshrike The bushshrikes are smallish passerine birds. They were formerly classed with the true shrikes in the family Laniidae, but are now considered sufficiently distinctive to be separated from that group as the family Malaconotidae, a name that allud ...

family, Malaconotidae. It inhabits

forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

s mainly in

East Africa East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territories make up Eastern Africa: Due to the historical ...

. It forms a superspecies with the many-colored bushshrike (''C. multicolor'') and the two are sometimes considered to be a single species.

Description

It is 18-19 centimetres long. It is variable in appearance and has several different colour morphs. All birds have green upperparts, grey crown and upper back, yellow tip to the tail and dark

bill Bill(s) may refer to: Common meanings * Banknote, paper cash (especially in the United States) * Bill (law), a proposed law put before a legislature * Invoice, commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer * Bill, a bird or animal's beak Plac ...

and legs. The orange morph has a black mask and forehead and orange underparts, shading to yellow under the tail. The red morph is similar but redder on the throat and breast with yellow on the belly and undertail-coverts. The buff form has buff underparts and a pale throat. The black morph has an entirely black face, forehead, throat and breast and green belly and undertail-coverts. Females are duller than the males with less black on the forehead. Juvenile birds have buffish underparts with dark barring and yellow edges to the wing-feathers. The

song A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetitio ...

includes repeated bell-like phrases. Pairs often duet together.

Distribution and habitat

It has a patchy distribution and is restricted to

montane forest 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 ...

s in many areas. It forages in the canopy and middle levels of the forest and joins

mixed-species feeding flock A mixed-species feeding flock, also termed a mixed-species foraging flock, mixed hunting party or informally bird wave, is a flock of usually insectivorous birds of different species that join each other and move together while foraging. These ar ...

s outside the breeding season. There are three subspecies: ''C. n. nigrifrons'' occurs from central

Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

southwards through

Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands and ...

to northern

Malawi Malawi (; or aláwi Tumbuka: ''Malaŵi''), officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northeast ...

. ''C. n. manningi'' is found from the south-eastern part of the

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

to northern

Zambia Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most cent ...

. ''C. n. sandgroundi'' occurs in southern Malawi,

Mozambique Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi ...

, eastern

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...

and north-eastern South Africa.

Ectoparasite

A quill mite, ''Neoaulonastus malaconotus'', has been identified as an ectoparasite of the species. It belongs to the Syringophilinae, a mite subfamily known to infect several bushshrike species.

References

* BirdLife International (2010) Species factsheet:
Telophorus nigrifrons
'. Downloaded from https://www.webcitation.org/5QE8rvIqH?url=http://www.birdlife.org/ on 26 May 2010. * Newman, Kenneth (2002) ''Newman's Birds of Southern Africa'', Struik, Cape Town. * Sinclair, Ian & Ryan, Peter (2003) ''Birds of Africa south of the Sahara'', Struik, Cape Town. * Zimmerman, Dale A.; Turner, Donald A. & Pearson, David J. (1999) ''Birds of Kenya & Northern Tanzania'', Christopher Helm, London.

External links

* Black-fronted Bushshrike
Species text in The Atlas of Southern African Birds

{{Taxonbar, from=Q27075292 Chlorophoneus Birds of East Africa Birds described in 1896