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Gray-headed Batis Batis orientalis Scientific name definitions

Michel Louette
Version: 1.0 — Published March 4, 2020
Text last updated September 25, 2013

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Originally Appeared in

HBW Alive

Field Identification

10–11 cm; 8·8–13·4 g. Small flycatcher-like and shrike-like bird with contrasting black, grey and white (and some rufous) colours. Male nominate race has forehead, crown, nape and mantle dark bluish-grey, long white super­ciliary stripe reaching back to hindneck, typically with large distinct white nape patch; rest of upperparts blackish-grey, conspicuous white spots on rump; white wingstripe; tail black, outermost rectrix bordered and tipped white; white below, black breastband, thighs and underwing-coverts; iris yellow; bill and legs black. Differs from B. erlangeri in having crown grey, not black, breastband broader, shorter wing (55–59 mm, compared with 59–64 mm for B. erlangeri). Female is somewhat paler above than male, breastband chestnut. Immature is as female, but with brown on wingstripe, neck and eyebrow. Race bella is paler above and somewhat smaller than nominate; chadensis female is browner above, flight-feathers brown (not black); lynesi has breastband paler in female.

Systematics History

Editor's Note: This article requires further editing work to merge existing content into the appropriate Subspecies sections. Please bear with us while this update takes place.

Precise distribution uncertain, and relationship with some congeners unclear. May be close to B. molitor, to which similar acoustically, and in E 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 occupied to a certain extent by B. perkeo. Possibility of N–S intergradation of present species with B. erlangeri in general area of Chad–Central African Republic–W Sudan has been suggested; males of the two are extremely similar (old specimens from NE DRCongo cannot be reliably identified) and they may have been confused in Sudan, but according to one author they are separable in Ethiopia by wing length. Proposed race somaliensis (Somalia) included in bella, which itself is sometimes merged into nominate. Four subspecies recognized.

Subspecies

SUBSPECIES

Batis orientalis bella Scientific name definitions

Distribution

S Ethiopia, Djibouti, N and S Somalia and locally NE Uganda (Mt Moroto) and N Kenya (Moyale area).
SUBSPECIES

Batis orientalis orientalis Scientific name definitions

Batis orientalis orientalis
B. o. orientalis +1

Distribution

E Sudan, Ethiopia (except SW and S) and Eritrea.
SUBSPECIES

Batis orientalis chadensis Scientific name definitions

Batis orientalis chadensis
B. o. chadensis

Distribution

NE Nigeria (just W of L Chad from Arege to Malamfatori), NE Cameroon, S Chad, N Central African Republic, SW Sudan, South Sudan and W Ethiopia.
SUBSPECIES

Batis orientalis lynesi Scientific name definitions

Distribution

E Red Sea Province of NE Sudan.

Distribution

Editor's Note: Additional distribution information for this taxon can be found in the 'Subspecies' article above. In the future we will develop a range-wide distribution article.

Habitat

Vegetation near large rivers in arid and semi-arid regions. Habitat also described as dry savanna woodlands with acacia trees (Acacia) or dense arid thorn-scrub. Reaches at least 2100 m in Ethiopia.

Movement

Resident.

Diet and Foraging

Diet insects; ants (Hymenoptera) recorded. Uses lower part or centre of tree. Very active. Gleans from foliage.

Sounds and Vocal Behavior

Described as bell-like, usually 4 notes or metallic clicking and a series of high-pitched notes; acoustically quite similar to B. molitor, but generally one more note in the series than latter, which reacts to sound of present species in Kenya.

Breeding

Circumstantial evidence indicates season from Feb to, probably, Jul. Territorial. Nest a neat small cup of bark and lichens, bound with spider web, placed 2 m above ground in fork in thorn tree. Clutch 2–3 eggs, pale blue, finely dotted with purple-brown around broad end or flecked with black-brown and with underlying splashes of lilac at top. No further information.

Conservation Status

Conservation status on Birdlife LC Least Concern
Not globally threatened. Status not well known, as very few ornithologists have field experience with this species and probably only few are able to identify it correctly. Nevertheless, it occurs over a vast area, with relatively few changes to the environment, and is apparently not at risk. Probably locally fairly common, as in Eritrea. In Cameroon, common in and around Bouba Njidah National Park; known also from Logone Birni and seen once in Kalamaloué National Park. Occurs in Manovo-Gounda St Floris National Park, in Central African Republic, and Awash National Park, in Ethiopia. Infrequently recorded in Kenya, where previously considered to occur rather generally in N (there is also one record at coast, near Somali border), but recent study restricts it to Moyale area only. Occurrence in W Ethiopia uncertain; individuals reported there possibly belong to B. erlangeri. Supposed occurrence in Niger is in error.
Distribution of the Gray-headed Batis - Range Map
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Distribution of the Gray-headed Batis

eBird and Macaulay Library

Recommended Citation

Louette, M. (2020). Gray-headed Batis (Batis orientalis), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.gyhbat1.01
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