The northern puffback (''Dryoscopus gambensis'') is a species 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 family Malaconotidae. It is found in northern

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 ...

. It forms a superspecies with the

black-backed puffback The black-backed puffback (''Dryoscopus cubla'') is a species of passerine bird in the family Malaconotidae. They are common to fairly common sedentary bushshrikes in various wooded habitats in Africa south of the equator. They restlessly move ...

, which replaces it in eastern equatorial and southern Africa.

Habitat

Its natural

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

s are subtropical or tropical moist lowland

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, subtropical or tropical mangrove forests, and moist

savanna A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach the ground to ...

Races

There are five accepted races: * ''D. g. gambensis'' (M. H. C. Lichtenstein, 1823) – Senegambia to coastal Gabon * ''D. g. congicus'' Sharpe, 1901 – lower catchment of

Congo River The Congo River ( kg, Nzâdi Kôngo, french: Fleuve Congo, pt, Rio Congo), formerly also known as the Zaire River, is the second longest river in Africa, shorter only than the Nile, as well as the second largest river in the world by discharge ...

* ''D. g. malzacii'' (Heuglin, 1870) – eastern Cameroon to northwestern Tanzania * ''D. g. erythreae'' Neumann, 1899 – Eritrea to South Sudan * ''D. g. erwini'' Sassi, 1923 – Itombwe in eastern

DRC 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 ...

Gallery

File:Dryoscopus gambensis (Malaconotidae) (Northern Puffback) - (male), Mole National Park, Ghana, crop.jpg, Male ''D. g. gambensis'' at

Mole National Park Mole National Park is Ghana's largest wildlife refuge. The park is located in the Savannah region of Ghana on savanna and riparian ecosystems at an elevation of 50 m, with a sharp escarpment forming the southern boundary of the park. The par ...

, Ghana File:Northern Puffback, Gambia (11131498496), crop.jpg, Male ''D. g. gambensis'' in

The Gambia The Gambia,, ff, Gammbi, ar, غامبيا officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a country in West Africa. It is the smallest country within mainland AfricaHoare, Ben. (2002) ''The Kingfisher A-Z Encyclopedia'', Kingfisher Publicatio ...

File:NorthernPuffback.jpg, Male ''D. g. malzacii'' at Lake Nakuru N.P., Kenya

References

northern puffback The northern puffback (''Dryoscopus gambensis'') is a species of bird in the family Malaconotidae. It is found in northern sub-Saharan Africa. It forms a superspecies with the black-backed puffback, which replaces it in eastern equatorial and s ...

Birds of Sub-Saharan Africa

Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Malaconotidae-stub