Yellow-crowned Gonolek Laniarius barbarus Scientific name definitions

23 cm; 44–52·5 g. Nominate race has forehead to hindneck olive-yellow, front and side of crown clearer yellow; lores, narrow line over eye, upper cheek, ear-coverts, side of neck, and upperparts, including upperwing and long tail black with dark blue gloss, some scapular feathers with concealed white mark in centre, and lower back and rump feathers with mainly concealed large white subterminal spots; uppertail-coverts glossy black; chin to belly bright vermilion-red, vent, thighs and undertail-coverts buff, with blackish wedge down from rump, separating rear flanks from undertail-coverts; underwing-coverts and axillaries black; one mated 7-year-old individual had underparts all yellow; iris dark brown; bill black; legs slate-grey or bluish-grey. Sexes alike. Juvenile has top of head mustard-yellow, upperparts uniformly dark brown, upperwing-coverts with yellowish tips, underparts ochre-yellow, side of breast, flanks and belly narrowly barred greyish-black, eyes dark brown; later, yellow feathers replaced with scattering of red ones, starting mainly on throat and lower belly. Race helenae differs from nominate in having forehead, crown and hindneck rufous or orange-brown, not olive-yellow.

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Dense undergrowth in mesic and dry wooded savannas; thickets on large, old termite (Isoptera) mounds surrounded by bare soil or light grassland with only few scattered low shrubs; riverine bush, gallery-forest understorey, dense acacia (Acacia) woods with Zizyphus and other small thorn trees along watercourses, especially if plenty of woody litter on ground in shade of trees; farmland hedges, small groves of coppiced tamarinds (Tamarindus). Also large, mature gardens in main towns in Ghana, dense coastal scrub in Nigeria. Race helenae in W Sierra Leone lives in mangroves, rarely visiting adjacent coastal thickets.

Sedentary, often highly so, pair keeping to same dense thicket all year.

Eats insects , including beetles (Coleoptera), caterpillars and large numbers of grasshoppers and locusts (Acrididae); occasionally takes small birds and nestlings. Forages singly and in pairs low down in woody growth, moving through branches and on ground in long hops or sometimes creeping; partners usually within a few metres of each other, frequently calling (whether in sight of each other or not). Often forages in canopy up to 5 m high; can spend long periods in a single large fig (Ficus) or Parkia tree with shrubby growth and vegetation litter on ground below. If undisturbed spends much time on ground, where it assumes a rather upright posture, with tail held more or less horizontally. Will also move in full sun across lawns, flicking tail with every hop. Flicks aside dry leaves and woody litter; makes short runs after insects. Flies reluctantly, and never far; moves low over open patch, with very short glide into foot of bush.

Pair utters precisely synchronized calls in duet. Commonest duet a loud, pure, resonant, liquid double "whee-u" or "kweeho" or "tyaw" whistle by one individual, partner giving dry rasping rattle or short trill of 2–4 clicks, "kikiki" or "ch-chacha", duet lasts 0·3–0·4 seconds; male and female motifs each 0·2–0·3 seconds and overlap, with auditory response time of 0·08–0·1 seconds. Male usually initiates duet with "whee-u" but female can do so with "kikiki"; apparently each sex can both whistle and rattle; some duets tripartite, "huweeu-kkkk-huweeu". Single bird commonly utters repeated rhythmic "twoo-woo" whistle. Eight pairs used eight different duet patterns, and any one pair uses several different forms of "whee-u" call. One type of duet is repeated 10–40 times, with very regular intervals of 1·16–1·70 seconds between duets, then, after pause of several seconds, pair sings series of another duet type. Contact calls in deep cover are series of up to ten rapid clicks (lasting 0·9 seconds) by one bird followed after 0·2 seconds by clicks at different pitch (lasting 0·5 seconds). In courtship flight, emits calls like sound made by winding in a fishing reel, and makes wing-fripping noise.

Breeds primarily in wet season: Aug–Sept in Mauritania, Jan–Sept (mainly Jun–Aug) in Gambia; in Mali, Apr–Sept N of 13° N and Nov–Dec S of it; Apr–May in Ghana, and Jun–Aug (and once nestlings in Feb) in Nigeria. Apparently monogamous and territorial. In apparent courtship flight, gives calls with bill wide open and makes wing-fripping noise; flight display also described as involving deep, slow, stalling beats, with audible wing-snaps, accompanied by churring call like sound of squeaky bed-springs. Nest an open cup built from loosely intertwined coarse plant stems, unlined, or lined with fine tendrils and roots, placed 1·5–4·5 m up in thicket or in small soft-leaved tree in shrubby copse. Clutch 2 eggs. No other information.

Not globally threatened. Common or fairly common in much of range. Frequent to common throughout Senegal and Gambia, and frequent in N Guinea-Bissau; quite common in C & S Mali, where frequent in Haut Niger National Park and common in Boucle du Baoulé National Park, and common in parts of Burkina Faso; in Niger, common in W National Park and in R Niger valley (S from Tillabéry), infrequent away from river (S from Tahoua), and in SE frequent in Komadugu-Yobé area (near L Chad). Poorly known in Guinea but likely to be widespread in N. Race helenae locally common in coastal Sierra Leone. Only two records in Liberia (Monrovia and Congo Town lagoon); in Ivory Coast, common N of Bouaké, scarce in S guinean woodlands, and common along dry coast from Azagny National Park E to Assinie; widespread in riverine thickets in N & C Ghana, and on coast confined to thickets from Elmina E to Accra and Keta Plains; common and widespread in N Togo, uncommon or absent in S guinean zone, and common along coast. In Nigeria, frequent and widespread in N (Sokoto and Kano Provinces and lower Komadugu Gana valley S to Ilorin and Benue valley) and present also on SW coast (Badagri E to Lagos); locally common in N Cameroon, including Waza National Park, and uncommon in Mbam-Djerem National Park; uncommon but widespread in soudanian zone in Chad, where E limits unclear. This species is too adaptable to be of conservation concern; nevertheless, long-term threats to its abundance in Hwimo area of NW Nigeria (and probably applicable also to vast swathes of its W African range) include timber-felling and shrub clearance for building and farming, the regular cutting of small trees for firewood, hunting (with guns and catapults), brushwood fires, and increasing ecological imbalance resulting from various human activities.