Mountain Sooty Boubou (Laniarius poensis) [XC209735]
by Brian Cox from BBPP Field Station, Moka, Bioko Sur, Equatorial Guinea (call)
Mountain Sooty Boubou (Laniarius poensis) [XC99348]
by Mike Nelson from Mount Cameroon, Cameroon (song)
Subspecies
Fulleborn's Boubou (Laniarius fuelleborni) and Mountain Sooty Boubou (Laniarius poensis) (Sibley and Monroe 1990, 1993) are retained as separate species contra Dowsett and Forbes-Watson (1993) who include poensis as a subspecies of fuelleborni.
Has often been treated as conspecific with Fulleborn's Boubou (Laniarius fuelleborni), but the two differ in plumage (particularly of juvenile), in bill size and vocally. Recent genetic studies strongly suggest that the two, although more closely allied to each other than to the other black boubous (Lowland Sooty Boubou (Laniarius leucorhynchus) and Slate-coloured Boubou (Laniarius funebris)), are not conspecific and do not form a superspecies. Considerable vocal differences between eastern subspecies holomelas and western subspecies (nominate and camerunensis) suggest that former may be better treated as a separate species.
The following 3 subspecies are recognised:
camerunensis Eisentraut, 1968 - Extreme south-eastern Nigeria and western Cameroon.
poensis (Alexander, 1903) - Bioko I (Fernando Póo).
holomelas (F. J. Jackson, 1906) - North-eastern and eastern DRCongo, western Uganda, western Rwanda abd north-western Burundi. Considered by some authors to be a distinct species, Albertine Sooty Boubou (Laniarius holomelas).
BirdLife International Species Factsheet