Olive Bush-Shrike (Chlorophoneus olivaceus)

Other Scientific Names
Malaconotus olivaceus [Dowsett and Forbes-Watson (1993)], Chlorophoneus olivaceus

Other Names (World)
Olive Bush-shrike, Rufous-breasted Bush-shrike, Olive Bushshrike

Family
Malaconotidae (Bush-shrikes)

Size
17 - 19 cm

First Described (Guide)
(Shaw, 1809)

Habitat
Subtropical and tropical lowland and montane moist forest. Also, subtropical and tropical lowland dry and moist shrubland, dry forest and plantations.

Range (Guide)

Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, Swaziland, Zimbabwe.

Rarity Status
Currently this species is not classified as a rarity in this country OR information has not been updated.

Population
Estimated population is unknown (2010).

Status LC
For more information see BirdLife International Species Factsheet.

Voice
A varied series of whistles, including 'wheee hoo hoo hoo hoo'. Call is similar to that of Sulphur-breasted Bush-Shrike (Telophorus sulfureopectus), 'poo-poo-poo-poooo', rattling harsh alarm call, 'krrrr krrrr krrrrr'.

Xeno-Canto Sound Files (more (25)...)

Olive Bushshrike (Chlorophoneus olivaceus) [XC686256]
by Tim Cockcroft from Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality (near Kayser`s Beach), Amatole, Eastern Cape, South Africa (song)

Olive Bushshrike (Chlorophoneus olivaceus) [XC858879]
by id from Madzeka Hut, Mt. Mulanje, Southern Region, Malawi (song)

Subspecies
Many-coloured Bush-Shrike (Chlorophoneus multicolor) and Black-fronted Bush-Shrike (Chlorophoneus nigrifrons) (Sibley and Monroe 1990, 1993) are retained as separate species within Telophorus contra (Dowsett and Forbes-Watson 1993) who include nigrifrons as a subspecies of multicolor in the genus Malaconotus.

Genus sometimes subsumed in Malaconotus or in Chlorophoneus. Closely related to the superspecies formed by Many-coloured Bush-Shrike (Chlorophoneus multicolor) and Black-fronted Bush-Shrike (Chlorophoneus nigrifrons), but not a member of it since parapatric with Black-fronted Bush-Shrike (Chlorophoneus nigrifrons) from southern Malawi to northern South Africa. May be closely allied with Bocage's Bush-Shrike (Chlorophoneus bocagei). Nominate subspecies occurs in two colour morphs, which may possibly be two formerly allopatric subspecies beginning to intergrade. Further study is required.

Proposed subspecies taylori (described from eastern Mpumalanga, in north-eastern South Africa) is synonymized with nominate.

The following 5 subspecies are recognised:

bertrandi (Shelley, 1894) - Southern Malawi east of Shire Valley.
makawa Benson, 1945 - Southern Malawi (west of Shire Valley), eastern Zimbabwe, and extreme northern South Africa (northern Limpopo Province).
interfluvius (Clancey, 1969) - Western Mozambique.
vitorum (Clancey, 1967) - South-eastern Mozambique coast southern from R Save.
olivaceus (Shaw, 1809) - Eastern and southern South Africa (from north-eastern Limpopo south to southern western Cape), Swaziland and extreme southern Mozambique.

References
See References.

Files:

JPG files for Olive Bush-Shrike (Chlorophoneus olivaceus) - 10 files

More Information

BirdLife International

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BirdLife International Species Factsheet.

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