The black boubou (''Laniarius nigerrimus''), also known as Somali boubou, Erlanger's boubou or coastal boubou, is a medium-size

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 ...

. It was split from the

tropical boubou The tropical boubou or bell shrike (''Laniarius aethiopicus'') is a medium-sized passerine bird of sub-Saharan Africa. This very diverse "species" with its numerous subspecies and morphs has since long posed a taxonomic problem, and recent res ...

as a result of

DNA sequence DNA sequencing is the process of determining the nucleic acid sequence – the order of nucleotides in DNA. It includes any method or technology that is used to determine the order of the four bases: adenine, guanine, cytosine, and thymine. Th ...

analysis,Nguembock, B., Fjeldså J., Couloux A., Pasquet, E. (2008)
Phylogeny of ''Laniarius'': molecular data reveal'' L. liberatus ''synonymous with ''L. erlangeri'' and "plumage coloration" as unreliable morphological characters for defining species and species groups
. PDF ''Mol. Phyl. Evol.'' 48(2): 396-407. and this change in status was recognized by the

International Ornithological Committee The International Ornithologists' Union, formerly known as the International Ornithological Committee, is a group of about 200 international ornithologists, and is responsible for the International Ornithological Congress and other international ...

in 2008. Two colour morphs are recognized, a predominantly black one, the black boubou, and an extremely rare black and yellow morph which was formerly considered a separate species, the Bulo Burti boubou (''Laniarius liberatus''). The black boubou is found in

Somalia Somalia, , Osmanya script: 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘𐒕𐒖; ar, الصومال, aṣ-Ṣūmāl officially the Federal Republic of SomaliaThe ''Federal Republic of Somalia'' is the country's name per Article 1 of thProvisional Constituti ...

and northern

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

Description

The adult has glossy blue-black except for white spots on the rump, visible when the wings are spread and the rump feathers are erected. The underparts are white with a buffy or pinkish tinge on the breast and flanks. The bill is black; the eyes are dark reddish brown. The wings have white median coverts. The juvenile is similar but duller, with a greyish-brown bill, the upperparts mottled by yellowish-ochre to tawny feather tips, and dusky-barred flanks. The Somali boubou differs from tropical boubou in that it is smaller and has less white in the wing.

Bulo Burti boubou

The "Bulo Burti boubou", formerly recognized as a distinct species, ''Laniarius liberatus'', was only known from one individual trapped in 1988 in central

, 140 km inland in

Hiiraan Hiran ( so, Hiiraan, ar, هيران) is an administrative region ('' gobol'') in central Somalia and part of the Hirshabelle State. Overview Hiran is bordered by the Somali Region of Ethiopia (or the 1908 Convention Line) to the northwest, t ...

'' gobolka'' (region) near

Buuloburde Buloburde, also spelled Buloburti or Bulobarde, is a city in Somalia's central Hiran region. Overview Buloburde is situated along the Shabelle River, near Jalalaqsi. It is the center of the Buloburde District. In March 2014, Somali Armed Forc ...

(Buulobarde, Bulo Burti) on the

Shebelle River The Shebelle River ( so, Webi Shabeelle, ar, نهر شبيلي, am, እደላ) begins in the Ethiopian Highlands, highlands of Ethiopia, and then flows southeast into Somalia towards Mogadishu. Near Mogadishu, it turns sharply southwest, where ...

, and was described using blood and feather samples to provide a

. Apparently for the first time for a modern bird description, no specimen (either the bird or a part of it) was kept as a type; the bird was released back into the wild in 1990 because the scientists who caught it felt that the species was very rare. The blood and feather samples were destroyed in the process of sequencing. The epithet ''liberatus'' ("the liberated one") was given because of this. It was not found during searches in 1989 and 1990. It resembles the

red-naped bushshrike The red-naped bushshrike or red-naped boubou (''Laniarius ruficeps'') is a species of bird in the family Malaconotidae, which is native to the dry lowlands of the eastern Afrotropics. Range and habitat It is found in Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somal ...

''L. ruficeps'' but has no red nape, is black, not grey, on the mantle, and is washed buffy-yellow on throat and breast. This presumed species was considered critically endangered by

Birdlife International BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding ...

. In 2008, a new review of the molecular sequence data revealed the identity of the Bulo Burti boubou as a colour

morph Morph may refer to: Biology * Morph (zoology), a visual or behavioral difference between organisms of distinct populations in a species * Muller's morphs, a classification scheme for genetic mutations * "-morph", a suffix commonly used in tax ...

of ''Laniarius nigerrimus'' (traditionally considered a

subspecies In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...

). Following the 2008 study the

recognized ''L. nigerrimus'' as distinct species and put ''L. liberatus'' into the synonymity of ''L. nigerrimus''.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1320322 Laniarius Birds of East Africa Birds described in 1879 Controversial bird taxa