Three-streaked Tchagra
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The three-streaked tchagra (''Tchagra jamesi'') 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 lightweig ...
in the family Malaconotidae, which is an uncommon resident of semi-desert regions in the eastern Afrotropics. The binomial of this bird commemorates the explorer
Frank Linsly James Frank Linsly James FRGS (21 April 1851 – 21 April 1890) was an English explorer. He was the son of American parents: Liverpool-based merchant Daniel James and Sophia Hall (Hitchcock) James. He was born and raised in Liverpool; the 1861 censu ...
, who also had the Frank James Memorial Hospital built in his honour.


Range and habitat

It is found in
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 ...
,
Kenya ) , national_anthem = " Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi ...
,
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 ...
,
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 ...
,
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
Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa. The country is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the south by Tanzania. The sou ...
. 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 dry
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 ...
and subtropical or tropical dry shrubland.


Description

It is a small tchagra,
measuring Measurement is the quantification of attributes of an object or event, which can be used to compare with other objects or events. In other words, measurement is a process of determining how large or small a physical quantity is as compared ...
16–17 cm from bill tip to tail tip. They are distinct from other tchagra species in having a narrow, black median stripe over the crown, without any superciliary stripe. In addition the tertials and rectrices are mouse-brown in colour.


Habits

The male displays by fripping the wings in flight, followed by a series of down-slurred whistles. They feed to a large extent on insects, but may in addition prey on chicks of other birds.


Races

There are two accepted races: * ''T. j. jamesi'' (Shelley, 1885) – Uganda, Ethiopia, Somalia, inland Kenya and very locally in South Sudan and Tanzania * ''T. j. mandanus'' (Neumann, 1903) – Kenyan coast and adjacent islands


References

three-streaked tchagra Birds of the Horn of Africa three-streaked tchagra Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Malaconotidae-stub