Explore Taxonomy
Order
Passeriformes
Family
Muscicapidae
Genus
Monticola
Surprise Me
Previous Blue Rock-Thrush
Next Cape Rock-Thrush
- Miombo Rock-Thrush
© Nick Hudson
- Miombo Rock-Thrush
- Miombo Rock-Thrush
+3
- Miombo Rock-Thrush
- Miombo Rock-Thrush
- Miombo Rock-Thrush
- Miombo Rock-Thrush
Watch
- Miombo Rock-Thrush
Listen

Miombo Rock-Thrush Monticola angolensis Scientific name definitions

Nigel Collar
Version: 1.0 — Published March 4, 2020
Text last updated January 1, 2005

Sign in to see your badges

Originally Appeared in

HBW Alive

Field Identification

18 cm; 44 g. Male nominate race is pale blue-grey on head, throat, mantle and back, with very variable amounts of blackish streaking and mottling from mid-crown backwards (may appear unmarked); wings variably blackish; underparts, rump and outer tail dull orange (shading to buff on vent), central tail and tips variably blackish. Female is a stippled version of male, darker above, chin/throat and submoustachial whitish, obvious dark malar and vertical subocular streaks; whiter below, orange areas with variably indistinct to strong barring. Juvenile is blackish with whitish dotting and mottling above, whitish below, with greyish barring on breast and flanks, pale rusty grey-flecked rump and outer tail. Race hylophilus male is paler orange below, belly to vent white.

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.

Parapatric with M. brevipes. Geographical variation possibly mainly clinal, plumage becoming paler from E & N to S, and races intergrading; species perhaps better treated as monotypic. Two subspecies tentatively recognized.

Subspecies

SUBSPECIES

Monticola angolensis angolensis Scientific name definitions

Distribution

Angola and S DRCongo E to N, S and SW Tanzania and Rwanda and S to N Zambia.
SUBSPECIES

Monticola angolensis hylophilus Scientific name definitions

Distribution

S Zambia, W Malawi, W Mozambique, NE Botswana and Zimbabwe.

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

Miombo (Brachystegia), Uapaca and mutemwa or gusu (Baikiaea) woodland in hilly plateau country, including “mountain acacia” (Brachystegia glaucescens) woodland and edges of eucalypt plantations up to 5 km from nearest Brachystegia; also recorded from a wattle plantation and from gallery forest. Elevational limits unclear in many areas, but 900–1550 m in Malawi, 600–2000 m in Tanzania, and to 2150 m on Nyika Plateau, and 650–1500 m in Zimbabwe, 1800 m in DRCongo; in Angola, from near sea-level to c. 2250 m (on Mt Moco).

Movement

No clear evidence of seasonal movements, but in Tanzania reported as locally numerous at Songea Mar–Sept (prior to known breeding period); some records at lower altitudes in Malawi. Sedentary in Zambia.

Diet and Foraging

Ants, termites, beetles, crickets, moths, spiders, centipedes and small worm-lizards (Amphisbaenidae). Stomach of one bird held two slow-worms (Anguidae), three centipedes, one grasshopper and three coleopterans. Nestlings seen fed with lepidopteran larvae, chafer grub, false wireworm, spiders, cockroaches, crickets and a blind snake (Typhlops). Forages mainly on the ground among leaf litter or vegetation, and under logs and bark.

Sounds and Vocal Behavior

Song a series of short, measured, slightly differing, sweet whistled phrases 2 seconds long, with 2-second pause, “whiiiuu siiu hetchr… whiiiuu’u’u siiti siiti… hiiiu’u tch situ situ…”; reputedly mimics other birds. Call a fluty 2-note whistle, “cooee”, second note higher; a chatter in alarm.

Breeding

Sept and breeding-condition birds Aug and Oct in Angola; Jul–Oct in DRCongo; Sept–Oct and Dec in Zambia; Sept–Dec in Malawi; Aug–Jan (peak Sept–Oct) in Zimbabwe. Nest a very variably sized cup depending on site, made of fine or wiry grass and rootlets, lined with fine dry grass and tendrils, usually with base of twigs and coarse grass, placed 1–3 m up in hollow in stump, trunk or branch of Uapaca kirkiana or other tree; same site may be used in successive years. Eggs 2–4 (usually 3), turquoise to bluish-white, plain or with sparse reddish-brown speckling; incubation period 13·5–15 days; nestling period 18·5–20 days; juveniles may remain with parents for at least 3–6 months after fledging. One pair raised three broods inside 3 months, and 23 young in same place over 3 years. Average nesting success at eight nests 37%, with mean of 1·1 fledglings per attempt.

Conservation Status

Conservation status on Birdlife LC Least Concern
Not globally threatened. Extremely common in S savannas of Itombwe region, in E DRCongo; fairly common in SW Tanzania; locally common throughout C plateau in Angola; fairly common throughout Zambia; fairly common in Mozambique, where probably under-recorded in C & N. Now patchy and local on C plateau in Zimbabwe, where formerly widespread and common; one of first species to disappear after woodland disturbance. Distribution within miombo woodland local, with seemingly suitable habitat unoccupied, possibly owing to lack of nesting holes.
Distribution of the Miombo Rock-Thrush - Range Map
Enlarge
  • Year-round
  • Migration
  • Breeding
  • Non-Breeding
Distribution of the Miombo Rock-Thrush

eBird and Macaulay Library

Recommended Citation

Collar, N. (2020). Miombo Rock-Thrush (Monticola angolensis), 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.mirthr1.01
Birds of the World

Partnerships

A global alliance of nature organizations working to document the natural history of all bird species at an unprecedented scale.

American Ornithological Society American Ornithilogical Society Armonia Bolivia Aves Argentinas Avibase Aves Uruguay Birds Caribbean Bird Count India Conservación de Islas Corbidi Fundación Ñankulafkén Instituto Humboldt Lynx Edicions Oikonos Oriental Bird Club Ornithological Society Of The Middle East The Caucasus And Central Asia RED DE OBSERVADORES DE AVES Y VIDA SILVESTRE DE CHILE Roberts Birds Save Brasil Taiwan Biodiversity Research Institute Union Venezolana De Ornitologos