White-browed Scrub Robin

Overview

The white-browed scrub robin, Cercotrichas leucophrys, is a species of bird in the family Muscicapidae native to sub-Saharan Africa. Known also as the red-backed scrub-robin, it is a restless but shy species that is usually common in areas with suitable scrub or thicket cover.

Identification

• Measures 14.0–16.5 cm from bill tip to tail tip, with sexes alike.
• Features a distinct pale superciliary stripe and a warm brown, olive brown, or greyish brown crown.
• Wings are dusky but well-marked, with greater and lesser wing coverts always white-tipped.
• Tail is greyish brown to rufous with a black subterminal band and white feather tips and corners.

Habitat

Found across a wide range in sub-Saharan Africa, spanning tropical, subtropical, and temperate latitudes. The bird prefers mesic to arid woodland or savanna environments that provide open scrub, thickets, or grassy cover. It is sedentary in most of its range, except in the far south, and occurs up to 1,400 metres in the Eastern Highlands and 1,500 metres in East Africa.

Diet

The white-browed scrub robin feeds primarily on insects, with a particular focus on termites and ants. Foraging behaviour involves hopping on the ground, often accompanied by the characteristic flicking and fanning of the tail.

Did you know?

The specific epithet 'leucophrys' is derived from the Ancient Greek words for 'white' and 'eyebrow', referring to the bird's prominent superciliary stripe. Its loud and variable song can consist of countless, sometimes identical, repetitions, and songs from different subspecies groups are believed to be distinguishable, with the 'white-winged' group producing shriller notes.