''Dryoscopus'' is a genus of

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 ...

in the Malaconotidae or bushshrike family. Its members are known as puffbacks. The six species, all of fairly uniform appearance and habits, are

native Native may refer to: People * Jus soli, citizenship by right of birth * Indigenous peoples, peoples with a set of specific rights based on their historical ties to a particular territory ** Native Americans (disambiguation) In arts and entert ...

to various parts of

sub-Saharan Africa Sub-Saharan Africa is, geographically, the area and regions of the continent of Africa that lies south of the Sahara. These include West Africa, East Africa, Central Africa, and Southern Africa. Geopolitically, in addition to the List of sov ...

. The name ''Dryoscopus'' is a compound

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

word: ''drus'' from the Greek word for "tree" and ''skopos'', meaning "watcher or lookout".

Structure and habits

Puffbacks are small, active bushshrikes that show a superficial resemblance to boubous. They however display only rudimentary duetting, have red or reddish irides, are smaller and compact with bouncy flight, and display

sexual dimorphism Sexual dimorphism is the condition where the sexes of the same animal and/or plant species exhibit different morphological characteristics, particularly characteristics not directly involved in reproduction. The condition occurs in most ani ...

. Characteristically, the long, loose and pale feathers of the male bird's back and rump are puffed out conspicuously during display. At the same time he may fly about, calling loudly. Comparable habits are found in some related genera (cf. '' Bocagia'', ''

Bias Bias is a disproportionate weight ''in favor of'' or ''against'' an idea or thing, usually in a way that is closed-minded, prejudicial, or unfair. Biases can be innate or learned. People may develop biases for or against an individual, a group, ...

'', '' Lanioturdus'', '' Batis'' and '' Dyaphorophyia''). Laniarius

They move about in pairs in the upper strata of trees (Pringle's excepting) and may join mixed-species flocks. They command a varied repertoire of explosive and fricative whistles, percussive clicking sounds, and harsh rasping, churring or tearing sounds. Three species have a rasping

alarm call In animal communication, an alarm signal is an antipredator adaptation in the form of signals emitted by social animals in response to danger. Many primates and birds have elaborate alarm calls for warning conspecifics of approaching predators ...

(''cubla'', ''senegalensis'' and ''pringlii''), while the remaining three (''gambensis'', ''angolensis'' and ''sabini'') have a stuttering alarm call. Wing fripping and bill snapping complement vocal communication. The nest is a neat compact cup in the general fashion of bushshrikes, but similar to those of shrike-flycatchers.

Courtship feeding A nuptial gift is a nutritional gift given by one partner in some animals' sexual reproduction practices. Formally, a nuptial gift is a material presentation to a recipient by a donor during or in relation to sexual intercourse that is not simp ...

is present, and studied species are monogamous and single-brooded.

Relationships

DNA-DNA hybridization studies suggest that genus ''

Tchagra The tchagras are passerine birds in the bushshrike family, which are closely related to the true shrikes in the family Laniidae, and were once included in that group. Description These are long-tailed birds, typically with a grey or grey-brown ...

'' is their closest relative, though biological traits also link them to ''

Laniarius ''Laniarius'' is a genus of brightly coloured, carnivorous passerine birds commonly known as boubous or gonoleks. Not to be confused with the similar-sounding genus ''Lanius'', they were formerly classed with the true shrikes in the family Lan ...

'', shrike-flycatchers (i.e. ''

'' and '' Megabyas'') and other genera.

Species

The genus contains the following six species:

Gallery

File:Black-backed Puffback (Dryoscopus cubla) (6017632158).jpg, Head of male, ''D. cubla'', showing red iris File:Black-backed Pufback (Dryoscopus cubla) (31638418377), crop.jpg, Displaying male, ''D. cubla'', with raised back and rump feathers File:Black-backed Puffback (Dryoscopus cubla) male (32397227986).jpg, Tit-like foraging habit of male ''D. cubla'' File:The Journal of the South African Ornithologists' Union (1905) (14749479424).jpg, Nest of ''D. cubla'' wedged in branches of a sapling

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2473810 Bird genera Taxonomy articles created by Polbot