BIRDGACHA / FIELD NOTES

Bushshrikes

Bushshrikes include boubous, gonoleks, puffbacks, tchagras and other African predatory songbirds. Strong bills with hooked tips accompany a wide range of colours, from black-and-white patterns to brilliant yellow, red or green. Examples include Fiery-breasted Bushshrike (Malaconotus cruentus), Mount Kupe Bushshrike (Chlorophoneus kupeensis), and Gorgeous Bushshrike (Telophorus viridis). Many hunt insects within cover rather than behaving like an exposed-perching true shrike. Duets and repeated whistles are prominent in several lineages. Dense vegetation can conceal even a brightly coloured bird, making a calling pair easier to locate by sound than by its plumage.

How to recognize Bushshrikes

Bill: strong bills with hooked tips.
Outline: sturdy bodies and varied bright or pied plumage.
Feeding: hunting invertebrates within bushes and trees.

Where they live

Sub-Saharan African forest, woodland, thickets and thorn savanna support different members. Some remain in humid forest foliage, while others use dry scrub, riverine tangles or wooded grassland. Hunting height ranges from low bushes to the canopy. Pairs may occupy cover that appears almost impenetrable from a path, and local vegetation differences can place quite different bushshrikes within a relatively small landscape.

Species accounts: Fiery-breasted Bushshrike · Mount Kupe Bushshrike · Gorgeous Bushshrike

Sources — natural history: Wikipedia: Bushshrikes natural history · Cornell Birds of the World: Fiery-breasted Bushshrike species account · Don Roberson: Bushshrikes field observations and natural history.

Classification: IOC World Bird List: family names and classification.

Some Cornell Birds of the World account sections require a subscription.

Updated 2026-11-06. Species counts follow this site's catalogue. This is an editorial summary, not an expert peer review.