Short-tailed Batis

About the Short-tailed Batis

The forest batis or short-tailed batis (Batis mixta) is a species of bird in the wattle-eye family, Platysteiridae occurring in eastern Africa. The forest batis was formally described and illustrated by the English ornithologist George Ernest Shelley in 1889 and given the binomial name Pachypora mixta. It is now one of 20 species placed in the genus Batis that was introduced by the German zoologist Friedrich Boie in 1833. The specific epithet mixta is Latin for "mixed" or "mingled".

Two subspecies are recognised: B. m. mixta (Shelley, 1889) – southeast Kenya to northeast Tanzania B. m. reichenowi Grote, 1911 – southeast Tanzania The subspecies B. m. reichenowi has sometimes been considered as a separate species, Reichenow's batis. Although the plumage of Reichenow's batis is distinctive, an analysis of mitochondrial DNA sequences published in 2006 found that the DNA from specimens of Reichenow's batis were nested within sequences of the forest batis.

The forest batis is a small species measuring 9.5–10 cm (3.7–3.9 in) in length and weighing 10.5–14.2 g (0.37–0.50 oz). The adult male has bluish grey upperparts with a black mask across the face, a white... Wikipedia →