The Taita fiscal or Teita fiscal (''Lanius dorsalis'') is a member of the
shrike family found in east
Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
from southeastern
South Sudan
South Sudan (; din, Paguot Thudän), officially the Republic of South Sudan ( din, Paankɔc Cuëny Thudän), is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered by Ethiopia, Sudan, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the ...
, southern
Ethiopia
Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...
, and western
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 ...
to northeastern
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 ...
.
[BirdLife International and Natureserve (2011) "Bird species distribution maps of the world." 2009. ]
Lanius dorsalis
'. In: IUCN 2011. ''IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.'' Version 2011.2. Accessed 2012-06-11. Its habitat is dry open thornbush and
acacia and other dry open woodland.
Description
This is a fairly distinctive -long
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 th ...
with white underparts and a black crown, hindneck and wings. The back is grey with a characteristic white 'V' and the rump is white. The tail is relatively long and black with white outer feathers. There is a small white patch on the wings. The bill, eyes and legs are black. The adult male and female Taita fiscal have similar plumage except for a rufous lower flank of the female which is usually hidden by the wing.
The juvenile is mainly brown–black above, with barring on the head and buff tips to the shoulder feathers. Its underparts are whitish with darker barring. The adult Taita fiscal is distinguished from other black-headed fiscals by the grey back and the wing pattern, if those are well seen. It gives a jumbled mix of shrike-like whistles and buzzes, including a ''chwaa-pikerrek-chrrrr-yook pikechik'' song.
[
]
Distribution
The Taita fiscal has a restricted range in East Africa which overlaps with the range of the Somali fiscal (''Lanius somalicus''). It is present in most of Kenya, only being absent from the coastal strip and the Highlands. It also occurs in southern and western Somalia, southern Ethiopia, southeastern South Sudan, northeastern Uganda and northern Tanzania.
Ecology
The Taita fiscal is usually solitary and hunts insect
Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body ( head, thorax and abdomen), three ...
s and small vertebrate
Vertebrates () comprise all animal taxa within the subphylum Vertebrata () (chordates with backbones), including all mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish. Vertebrates represent the overwhelming majority of the phylum Chordata, with c ...
s from an exposed perch or the tops of shrubs. The nest is a twig and grass cup built in a thorn tree. Three or four white eggs blotched with grey or white is the typical clutch.
References
* Tony Harris and Kim Franklin, ''Shrikes & Bush Shrikes'' (Christopher Helm, 2000)
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1050033
Taita fiscal
Birds of East Africa
Taita fiscal