Grey-headed Batis (Batis orientalis) [XC299981]
by Peter Boesman from Awash National Park, Ethiopia (song)
Grey-headed Batis (Batis orientalis) [XC299968]
by Peter Boesman from Sof Omar, Ethiopia (song)
Subspecies
Part of a superspecies that probably includes also Senegal Batis (Batis senegalensis), Chinspot Batis (Batis molitor), East Coast Batis (Batis soror) and Pririt Batis (Batis pririt). Possibly slight geographical overlap with Senegal Batis (Batis senegalensis) in northern Cameroon. May be closely related to Chinspot Batis (Batis molitor), to which it is similar acoustically, and in east of range could in fact be largely confined to Ethiopian Highlands and separated from that species by a band of semi-desert low country, which is filled to a certain extent by Pygmy Batis (Batis perkeo). Possibility of north-south intergradation of present species with Western Black-headed Batis (Batis erlangeri) in general area of Chad-Central African Republic-western Sudan has been suggested.
Proposed subspecies somaliensis (from Somalia) considered synonymous with bella, which itself is sometimes merged with nominate.
The following 4 subspecies are recognised:
chadensis Alexander, 1908 - North-eastern Nigeria (just west of L Chad from Arege to Malamfatori, possibly also Mambilla Plateau), north-eastern Cameroon, southern Chad, northern Central African Republic and south-western Sudan, probably also western Ethiopia.
orientalis (Heuglin, 1871) - Eastern Sudan, northern Ethiopia and Eritrea.
lynesi Grant, CHB & Mackworth-Praed, 1940 - Eastern Red Sea province of Sudan.
bella (Elliot, 1897) - Central Ethiopia, Djibouti, northern and southern Somalia and locally north-eastern Uganda (Mt Moroto) and northern Kenya (Moyale area).
BirdLife International Species Factsheet