White-browed scrub robin

Appearance

The white-browed scrub robin measures 14.0–16.5 cm from bill tip to tail tip and the sexes are alike. The pale supercilliary stripe is distinct, and the crown may be warm brown, olive brown or greyish brown. The wings are dusky but well-marked. Greater and lesser wing coverts always white-tipped, but the secondaries with or without white edging. Amount of streaking on the breast is very variable, in subsp. "ovamboensis" it is reduced to fine streaking encircling the throat.

The breast and flanks are washed with a variable amount of tawny buff. The mantle and back is brownish to hazel or rufous, depending on the subspecies. The tail is greyish brown to rufous, with a black subterminal band and white feather tips and corners. Juveniles are mottled but with the tail pattern of adults.

Naming

For the white-browed scrub robin, some 9 to 12 subspecies are recognized: Two groups of subspecies are recognised, namely the 'white-winged' group of arid country, and the 'red-backed' group of mesic to moist habitats. Intergradation between these is apparently limited to subspecies "brunneiceps" and "vulpina" around Simba, Kenya. Otherwise the variation is clinal, though the extremes may be quite distinct.

Distribution

The white-browed scrub robin is found in Angola, Botswana, Burundi, Republic of the Congo, DRC, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Gabon, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, Somalia, South Africa, South Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Its range spans tropical, subtropical and temperate latitudes.

Behavior

Sedentary except in the far south. A restless but shy species which mostly sings from concealment inside bushes. It hops on the ground when foraging. As with some other scrub robin species, the tail is regularly flicked and fanned, and the wings may be drooped. The alarm is a sharp "skirr" or "skee-ip" note. The loud and variable song may include countless, sometimes identical repetitions. The songs of the respective subspecies are believed to be distinguishable, and those of the 'white-winged' group are considered to be shriller. It feeds on insects, especially termites and ants.

Habitat

It is present and usually common in any mesic to arid woodland or savanna, provided that there is cover, open scrub or thickets. In the Eastern Highlands it is only present up to 1,400 metres, and in East Africa up to 1,500 metres. It is replaced on the Kalahari sands by the Kalahari scrub robin, while in the Horn of Africa it is sympatric with the rufous bush chat, which lacks any white in the wings. Suitable habitat is usually grassy, which facilitates nesting.

Reproduction

Pairs are monogamous and nest solitarily from early to midsummer. The nest is built from dry grass by the female only, and is placed some 10 to 20 cm up at the heart of a grass tuft. Usually three eggs are laid and these are incubated by the female only. The cream-coloured eggs, measuring 20 x 14 mm, are blotched with brown and purple around the thicker end. The chicks are reared by both parents. Some nests are parasitised by cuckoos.