A plump, dark-backed bushshrike with a creamy throat; buff-rufous flanks, thighs and belly; and a striking white stripe on the dark wing. The female is duller and less glossy than the male. Pairs are shy and skulking residents of thickets and tangles in fynbos, forest, and woodland. The species forages furtively by creeping stealthily and hopping slowly, close to the ground. Normally boubous are first detected by their loud distinctive ringing duets: “wheeet-whee-do-do-do”; their single loud “wheee” notes; and a rattling scold like the vibrating of a seed-pod shaker. The similar Tropical Boubou has paler underparts than the Southern Boubou.