Black boubou

Black boubou

Somali boubou, Erlanger's boubou, Coastal boubou

Kingdom
Phylum
Class
Family
Genus
SPECIES
Laniarius nigerrimus

The black boubou, Somali boubou, Erlanger's boubou, or coastal boubou (Laniarius nigerrimus ) is a medium-size bushshrike. It was split from the tropical boubou as a result of DNA sequence analysis, and this change in status was recognized by the International Ornithological Committee in 2008. Two colour morphs are recognized, a predominantly black one, the black boubou, and an extremely rare black and yellow morph which was formerly considered a separate species, the Bulo Burti boubou (Laniarius liberatus ). The black boubou is found in Somalia and northern Kenya.

Appearance

The adult has glossy blue-black except for white spots on the rump, visible when the wings are spread and the rump feathers are erected. The underparts are white with a buffy or pinkish tinge on the breast and flanks. The bill is black; the eyes are dark reddish brown. The wings have white median coverts. The juvenile is similar but duller, with a greyish-brown bill, the upperparts mottled by yellowish-ochre to tawny feather tips, and dusky-barred flanks. The Somali boubou differs from tropical boubou in that it is smaller and has less white in the wing.

Geography

Continents
Countries
Biogeographical realms

References

1. Black boubou Wikipedia article - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_boubou
2. Black boubou on The IUCN Red List site - https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/22735536/112337513
3. Xeno-canto bird call - https://xeno-canto.org/97479

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