Crimson-breasted Gonolek Laniarius atrococcineus Scientific name definitions

22–23 cm; 40–56·5 g. Has lores matt black, forehead to hindneck and side of head , and upperparts, jet-black and strongly glossy (gloss bluish in some lights); back and rump plumage full, soft and fluffy, black with mainly concealed white blotches; uppertail rounded or slightly graduated, glossy black, outermost rectrix sometimes with white triangular mark up to 6 mm deep at tip; upperwing glossy black, long white stripe formed by white outer lesser coverts, most median coverts, inner three greater coverts (outer two all white, innermost one with white outer web and black inner web), and white outer edges (2–3 mm wide) on inner three secondaries; chin to flanks and undertail-coverts brilliant crimson-red (slightly paler in arid regions), sharply demarcated from black of side of head and neck, thighs black; underside of tail glossy black, underwing-coverts and axillaries black; iris dark violet or grey-brown with narrow pale violet ring; bill black, mouth black; legs black. Rare yellow morph has chin to flanks and undertail-coverts bright daffodil-yellow. Sexes alike. Juvenile has top of head and mantle blackish-brown with fine rufescent-buff bars, back, rump and lesser wing-coverts dark brown with broader pale bars (formed by buff feather tips), flight-feathers dark brown, median and greater wing-coverts buffy white with dark brown subterminal bars, uppertail-coverts and tail black with narrow rufous tips, chin to breast evenly and finely barred with buff and blackish, belly and flanks evenly and more broadly barred likewise, undertail-coverts crimson; when moulting from juvenile to immature plumage, first belly and flanks become crimson, then centre of breast does so (leaving large brindled brown patches on sides of breast and in middle of lower breast and upper belly), then chin and throat and sides of breast and then entire underparts become crimson, except for thighs and small patch in middle of lower breast.

Kalahari Basin and adjoining hardveld regions: S Angola, SW Zambia and W & S Zimbabwe S to Namibia (except W & S: Namib and Karoo), Botswana (except parts of N & C) and N & C South Africa (N & C Limpopo Province S to N Northern Cape and NW Free State).

Thornveld with scattered clumps of small trees , particularly woodland dominated by acacia (Acacia) and Baikiaea; keeps to densest vegetation.

Beetles (of families Carabidae, Tenebrionidae and Cerambycidae), beetle larvae, ants (Formicidae), caterpillars, termites (Isoptera), heteropteran bugs, spiders (Araneae); some small fruits and seeds also taken, and once birdtable peanuts husked and broken into small pieces. Ants a favourite prey when bird feeding on ground. Young fed with small moths (Lepidoptera), grubs, and once a 50-mm centipede (Chilopoda). Forages among branches and foliage but mainly on tree trunks, hopping around, inspecting rough bark and peering under loose pieces of bark; zigzags up through bush, bouncing rapidly from branch to branch; commonly comes to ground, where hops with very upright posture, wingtips pointing down and tail horizontal and jerking up at each bounce; sometimes runs. Flicks aside bits of vegetable matter in manner of a Turdus thrush; occasionally flycatches. Once seen to attack a bat (Chiroptera), dislodging it from behind bark; in captivity, kills other small birds. Often forages alongside L. aethiopicus, sometimes in same bush. Pair invariably joins flock of Southern Pied Babblers (Turdoides bicolor) passing through its territory and forages opportunistically with them; forages also with Arrow-marked Babblers (Turdoides jardineii), with Hoopoes (Upupa epops) on ground and with Common Scimitarbills (Rhinopomastus cyanomelas) low in trees.