Monteiro's bushshrike
Illustration by Joseph Smit
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Malaconotidae
Genus: Malaconotus
Species:
M. monteiri
Binomial name
Malaconotus monteiri
(Sharpe, 1870)
Subspecies
  • M. m. monteiri (Sharpe, 1870)
  • M. m. perspicillatus (Reichenow, 1894)
Synonyms

Laniarius monteiri Sharpe, 1870

Monteiro's Bushshrike in Angola

Monteiro's bushshrike (Malaconotus monteiri) is a species of bird in the bush-shrike family (Malaconotidae).

Taxonomy

Two described subspecies: nominate Malaconotus m. monteiri (Shape, 1870) described from Angola, and M. m. perspicillatus (Reichenow, 1894) known from only a single specimen in Cameroon.[2] Subspecies perspicillatus differs from the nominate in having a larger bill and paler undersides.[2]

Presumed to be closely related to other Malaconotus, and has been considered conspecific with both gray-headed bushshrike M. blanchoti and fiery-breasted bushshrike M. cruentus in the past.[2] Cameroonian M. m. perspicillatus has also been theorized to be a color morph of the green-breasted bushshrike.[2] The specific phylogenetic relationships of M. monteiri are, as of yet, unknown.

Distribution and habitat

It is found in Angola and Cameroon, with a historical record from the Albertine Rift of eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo and a lost specimen from Kakamega Forest, Kenya.[2]

This species' habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests. In Angola, the nominate subspecies is found primarily along the Angolan Escarpment, with a distribution mirroring that of other Angolan endemic taxa.[3]

This species is largely unknown outside of Angola. Cameroonian birds are described as the subspecies Malaconotus monteiri perspicillatus based on a single specimen from Mt. Cameroon in 1894.[2] The subspecies of records in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Kenya has not been confirmed, though the Congolese record has tentatively assigned to perspicillatus in the past.[2] There are scattered sightings of reported individuals in other mountain ranges in western Cameroon (namely, Mt. Kupé and the nearby Bakossi Mountains), though these records are usually considered unconfirmed.[2]

It is probably threatened by habitat loss like other birds in its range, but its actual status remains unknown due to its elusiveness.

References

  1. ↑ BirdLife International (2019). "Malaconotus monteiri". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2019: e.T22707741A155179846. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2019-3.RLTS.T22707741A155179846.en. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Fry, Hilary; Sharpe, Chris (4 March 2020). del Hoyo, J.; Elliott, A.; Christie, D. A.; de Juana, E. (eds.). "Monteiro's Bushshrike (Malaconotus monteiri), version 1.0". Birds of the World. Ithaca, NY, USA: Cornell Lab of Ornithology. doi:10.2173/bow.monbus1.01.
  3. ↑ Ryan, Peter; Sinclair, Ian (2010). Birds of Africa, south of the Sahara (2nd ed.). Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa: Struik Nature. ISBN 1770076239.


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