Southern White-crowned Shrike

About the Southern White-crowned Shrike

The southern white-crowned shrike (Eurocephalus anguitimens) is a species of bird in the family Laniidae. It is found in Angola, Botswana, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, and Zimbabwe. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests and dry savannah.

The southern white-crowned shrike grows to a length of about 24 cm (9 in). The sexes are alike; in the adult bird the crown and forehead are white, and the mask is black and extends above and below the eye to the side of the neck. The nape and upper parts are ashy-brown and the wings and tail are dark brown. The underparts are off-white, the upper breast being tinged with buff. The lower belly and vent areas are ashy-brown. The beak is black, the eyes brown and the legs dark brown. Juveniles are similar to adult birds but the crown is slightly mottled and barred and grey rather than white. The chin and throat are white but the remaining parts of the underparts are tinged with ashy brown.

Like the closely related northern white-crowned shrike, this species is highly sociable and will form small, tightly-knit groups of usually three to six individuals, but occasionally up to twenty outside the... Wikipedia →