Biology:Red-faced mousebird
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Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Coliiformes |
| Family: | Coliidae |
| Genus: | Urocolius |
| Species: | U. indicus
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| Binomial name | |
| Urocolius indicus (Latham, 1790)
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File:Urocolius indicus transvaalensis, roep, 2022-12-01 08h55, Pretoria, a.mp3
The red-faced mousebird (Urocolius indicus) is a species of mousebird or coly. It is a common in southern Africa from Zaire, Zambia and Tanzania south to the Cape. Its habitat is savanna with thickets, fynbos scrub, other open woodland, gardens and orchards.[2]
There are a total of five recognized subspecies:[3]
- Urocolius indicus mossambicus (Distribution: east Angola to southwest Tanzania and Malawi)
- Urocolius indicus lacteifrons (Distribution: western Angola, north & central Namibia and western Botswana)
- Urocolius indicus pallidus (Distribution: southeast Tanzania and northeast Mozambique)
- Urocolius indicus transvaalensis (Distribution: Central and eastern Botswana and southwest Zambia to Mozambique and South Africa)
- Urocolius indicus indicus (Distribution: south and central South Africa)
This bird is about 34 cm (13 in) long, with the tail comprising approximately half the length.[2] The crested head and breast are pale cinnamon with a red bill and eye mask. The rest of the upperparts and tail are blue-grey apart from a paler grey rump. The belly is whitish. The sexes are similar, but juveniles lack the crest and have a green mask. Their call is tree-ree-ree whistle, and regularly called in multiple repetitions.[2] Red-faced mousebirds make the same call whether in-flight or perched.[2]
The red-faced mousebird is a frugivore which subsists on fruits, berries, leaves, seeds and nectar.[2] Its flight is typically fast, strong and direct from one feeding area to another.
This is a social bird outside the breeding season, feeding together in small groups, normally of about half a dozen birds, but sometimes up to 15 or more. They fly and interact in tight collections.[2] It engages in mutual preening and roosts in groups at night. It is more wary than other mousebirds.
These sedentary birds breed between June and February. The nest is a large untidy cup of plant material lined with material such as sheep wool. The clutch is 2–6 eggs, creamy white with reddish brown spots and hatch in about two weeks.[4]
Urocolius indicus
Red-faced mousebird in flight
Red-faced mousebird in Zambia
1884 illustration, 1. Colius nigricollis = Colius striatus nigricollis, 2. Colius erythromelon = Urocolius indicus indicus
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References
- ↑ BirdLife International (2016). "Urocolius indicus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016: e.T22683796A95211592. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22683796A95211592.en. https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/22683796/95211592. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Newman, Vanessa (2010). Newman's Birds of Southern Africa. Cape Town, South Africa: Pippa Parker. pp. 274. ISBN 9781770078765.
- ↑ Gill, Frank; Donsker, David, eds (2023). "Mousebirds, Cuckoo Roller, trogons, hoopoes, hornbills". World Bird List. International Ornithologists' Union. https://www.worldbirdnames.org/bow/mousebirds/.
- ↑ Fry, C. Hilary; Urban, Emil K.; Keith, Stuart (2020). The Birds of Africa; Volume III. Bloomsbury Publishing. pp. 244–245. ISBN 9781472986535. https://books.google.com/books?id=5yDsDwAAQBAJ&dq=Red+faced+mousebird&pg=PA244.
- Ian Sinclair, Phil Hockey and Warwick Tarboton, SASOL Birds of Southern Africa (Struik 2002) ISBN:1-86872-721-1
External links
- Red-faced mousebird – Species text in The Atlas of Southern African Birds.
Wikidata ☰ Q260240 entry
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