Grey-headed Batis

Overview

The grey-headed batis (Batis orientalis) is a small bird species in the wattle-eyes family, Platysteiridae, previously classified with the Old World flycatchers. It is native to eastern and central Africa and is currently classified as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List.

Identification

• Measures 10–11 cm in length and weighs between 8.8 and 13.4 g.
• Features yellow eyes, a black bill, and black legs.
• Adult males possess a bluish black forehead, crown, and nape, with a small white loral spot extending into a long, broad supercilium and a glossy black face mask.
• Wings are black with a white stripe, while the tail is black with white outer feathers; females resemble males but display a chestnut or rufous breast band instead of the glossy black one seen in males.

Habitat

Found in western central and east Africa, ranging from Niger and Nigeria east to Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, and Somalia, and south to Uganda and Kenya. It inhabits dry savanna, subtropical or tropical dry lowland grassland, arid thornbush, and semi-desert scrub from sea level up to 2,100 m in Ethiopia.

Diet

Feeds on insects while foraging in the shade within the middle of bushes, often moving restlessly in the canopy. It may perform a courtship flight, although this behaviour may have been mistaken for that of a pygmy batis.

Did you know?

The cup nest is constructed from bark strips and spider webs and concealed within the central fork of a thorn tree, where the female lays two to three pale blue eggs.