The Uhehe fiscal (''Lanius collaris marwitzi'') is a

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 family Laniidae. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

to the uplands of southern and eastern

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 ...

. Some taxonomic authorities treat this species as 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 ...

of the

southern fiscal The southern fiscal or fiscal shrike (''Lanius collaris'') is a member of the shrike family found through most of southern Africa. It is also sometimes named jackie hangman or butcher bird due to its habit of impaling its prey on acacia thorn ...

(''Lanius collaris'').

Description

The Uhehe fiscal is a slender, black and white bird growing to about . The sexes are similar. The upper parts are dull black, with a white

supercilium The supercilium is a plumage feature found on the heads of some bird species. It is a stripe which runs from the base of the bird's beak above its eye, finishing somewhere towards the rear of the bird's head.Dunn and Alderfer (2006), p. 10 Also ...

and white scapulars. The back, rump and upper tail coverts are dark grey, and the long tail is black. All the tail feathers except the two central ones have white spots. The wings are black except for a small white patch. The underparts are whitish, sometimes washed with buff. It could be confused with the southern fiscal, but its colouration is distinctly darker and it occurs at higher elevations.

Ecology

Little is known of the habits and ecology of this species, but they are likely to be similar to those of the southern fiscal. It seems to be a shy and rather quiet bird.

Distribution and habitat

The Uhehe fiscal is found only in southern and eastern Tanzania at elevations of above , from Mpwapwa and the

Ukaguru Mountains The Ukaguru Mountains are a mountain range in central Tanzania. The mountains are in Morogoro region, east of Tanzania's capital Dodoma. The mountains are named for the Kaguru people. The Ukaguru Mountains are part of the Eastern Arc Mountains, an ...

Njombe Njombe is a town in southern Tanzania. It is the regional capital of Njombe Region as well as the district headquarter of Njombe Rural District and Njombe Urban District. It is located at nearly 2000 meters of altitude on the eastern edge of the ...

Mount Rungwe Mount Rungwe is a volcanic mountain in Mbeya Region, in Tanzania's Southern Highlands. At an altitude of , it is southern Tanzania's second-highest peak. Rungwe's volcano is currently inactive. Geography Rungwe stands at the junction of the e ...

and

Tukuyu Tukuyu, known as Neu Langenburg during the German colonial rule, is a small hillside town that lies about south of the city of Mbeya, at an elevation of around in the highland Rungwe District of southern Tanzania, East Africa. Tukuyu town has ...

. Its typical habitat is scrubland.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q840490 Uhehe fiscal Endemic birds of Tanzania Uhehe fiscal Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Subspecies