Retz's Helmetshrike (Prionops retzii) [XC355470]
by Don Jones from Hoedspruit, Mopani, Limpopo, South Africa (call, song)
Retz's Helmetshrike (Prionops retzii) [XC361356]
by Frank Lambert from Kruger Park, Ehlanzeni, Mpumalanga, South Africa (song)
Subspecies
Forms a superspecies, and conceivably conspecific, with Gabela Helmetshrike (Prionops gabela). Other proposed subspecies are intermedius (described from Mwanza, south of L Victoria, in Tanzania), synonymized with tricolor, and neumanni (from Fanole, in Somalia), synonymized with graculinus.
The following 4 subspecies are recognised:
nigricans (Neumann, 1899) - Angola (except northern and extreme south), north-western Zambia and south-eastern DRCongo.
graculinus Cabanis, 1868 - Southern Somalia, Kenya and north-eastern Tanzania.
retzii Wahlberg, 1856 - Extreme southern Angola (southern Huíla and probably Cubango) and southern Zambia south to northern Namibia, northern and eastern Botswana, Zimbabwe and northern South Africa.
tricolor Gray, GR, 1864 - Western and southern Tanzania and southern and eastern Zambia south to Malawi, Mozambique, north-eastern South Africa and eastern Swaziland.
BirdLife International Species Factsheet