Batis (bird)
Batis | |
---|---|
Woodward's Batis, Batis fratrum | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Order: | Passeriformes |
Family: | Platysteiridae |
Genus: | Batis F. Boie, 1833 |
species | |
See text | |
Batis (pronounced BAT-iss) is a genus of passerine birds in the wattle-eye family. Its species are resident in Africa south of the Sahara. They were previously classed as a subfamily of the Old World flycatcher family, Muscicapidae.
They are small stout insect-eating birds, usually found in open forests or bush. The nest is a small neat cup low in a tree or bush. They hunt by flycatching, or by taking prey from the ground like a shrike.
Batis species are strikingly patterned, typically with a grey crown, black eye mask, dark back, and paler underparts, often with a coloured or black breast band and white on the throat which contrasts strongly with the black eye stripe. Male and female plumages usually differ.
The song is typically a descending triple whistle.
Species in taxonomic order
- Margaret's Batis, Batis margaritae
- Forest Batis, Batis mixta
- Dark Batis, Batis crypta
- Ruwenzori Batis, Batis diops
- Cape Batis, Batis capensis
- Woodward's Batis, Batis fratrum
- Chinspot Batis, Batis molitor
- Pale Batis, Batis soror
- Pririt Batis, Batis pririt
- Senegal Batis, Batis senegalensis
- Grey-headed Batis, Batis orientalis
- Black-headed Batis, Batis minor
- Eastern Black-headed Batis, Batis minor minor
- Western Black-headed Batis, Batis minor erlangeri
- Pygmy Batis, Batis perkeo
- Gabon Batis, Batis minima
- Ituri Batis, Batis ituriensis
- Fernando Po Batis, Batis poensis
- West African Batis, Batis occulta
- Angola Batis, Batis minulla
References
- Fjeldså, Jon; Bowie, Rauri C. K. & Kiure, Jacob (2006) The forest batis, Batis mixta, is two species: description of a new, narrowly distributed Batis species in the Eastern Arc biodiversity hotspot., Journal of Ornithology, 147 (4): 578-590.
- Ian Sinclair, Phil Hockey and Warwick Tarboton, SASOL Birds of Southern Africa (Struik 2002) ISBN 1-86872-721-1