Chorister robin-chat
| Chorister robin-chat | |
|---|---|
| |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Family: | Muscicapidae |
| Genus: | Cossypha |
| Species: | C. dichroa
|
| Binomial name | |
| Cossypha dichroa (Gmelin, JF, 1789)
| |
The chorister robin-chat (Cossypha dichroa) (previously known as the chorister robin) is a species of bird in the Old World flycatcher family Muscicapidae. It is found in South Africa and Eswatini. Its distribution stretches from the southern Western Cape through the Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, and Mpumalanga to northern Limpopo. Its natural habitat is evergreen forests, especially in the mist belt region.
Taxonomy[edit]
The chorister robin-chat was formally described in 1789 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in his revised and expanded edition of Carl Linnaeus's Systema Naturae. He placed it with the flycatchers in the genus Muscicapa and coined the binomial name Muscicapa dichroa.[2] Gmelin based his account on the "Muscicapa bicolor" that had been described and illustrated in 1787 by the Swedish naturalist Anders Sparrman. The hand-coloured engraved plate had been drawn by Jonas Carl Linnerhielm.[3] The chorister robin-chat is now placed in the genus Cossypha that was introduced in 1825 by Nicholas Vigors.[4]
Two subspecies are recognised:[4]
- C. d. dichroa (Gmelin, JF, 1789) – Eswatini (formerly Swaziland) and south South Africa
- C. d. mimica Clancey, 1981 – north South Africa
Description[edit]
This is a large robin-chat, about 20 cm (7.9 in) in length. It is identified by its dark upperparts (the ear coverts and lores are slightly darker than the rest of the face, head, neck and back) and yellow-orange underparts. It has no white eye stripe. Juveniles have a sooty, mottled tawny-buff above and below and its tail is red-orange with a dark centre.
Behaviour[edit]
The chorister robin-chat is generally solitary. It skulks in dense foliage in the forest canopy. In winter it may forage on ground, but it usually gleans insects from leaves. It also follows other fauna in its habitat that might disturb insects, which it then hawks. Its diet consists mainly of insects, millipedes, spiders, ticks and fruit in winter. The chorister robin-chat breeds from October to January; it peaks during November. There has been a record where it plays host to red-chested cuckoo, a brood parasite. The chorister robin-chat moves from the interior to coastal forests in winter.
References[edit]
- ^ BirdLife International (2017). "Cossypha dichroa". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2017: e.T22709834A119069488. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-3.RLTS.T22709834A119069488.en. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
- ^ Gmelin, Johann Friedrich (1789). Systema naturae per regna tria naturae : secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis (in Latin). Vol. 1, Part 2 (13th ed.). Lipsiae [Leipzig]: Georg. Emanuel. Beer. p. 949.
- ^ Sparrman, Andreas (1787). Museum Carlsonianum, in quo novas et selectas aves, coloribus ad vivum brevique descriptione illustratas, suasu et sumtibus generosissimi possessoris (in Latin). Vol. 2. Holmiae: Ex Typographia Regia. Plate 46.
- ^ a b Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (July 2023). "Chats, Old World flycatchers". IOC World Bird List Version 13.2. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 16 August 2023.
- 'Robert's Birds of Southern Africa; Sixth Edition; 1993; Gordon Lindsay Maclean'
- Biodiversity Explorer; [1]
External links[edit]
- Chorister robin - Species text in The Atlas of Southern African Birds.
_I-Haryana_IMG_8045.jpg){kind=small} | This article about an Old World flycatcher is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |