Black-fronted bushshrike

Appearance

It is 18-19 centimetres long. It is variable in appearance and has several different colour morphs. All birds have green upperparts, grey crown and upper back, yellow tip to the tail and dark bill and legs. The orange morph has a black mask and forehead and orange underparts, shading to yellow under the tail. The red morph is similar but redder on the throat and breast with yellow on the belly and undertail-coverts. The buff form has buff underparts and a pale throat. The black morph has an entirely black face, forehead, throat and breast and green belly and undertail-coverts. Females are duller than the males with less black on the forehead. Juvenile birds have buffish underparts with dark barring and yellow edges to the wing-feathers. The song includes repeated bell-like phrases. Pairs often duet together.

Distribution

It has a patchy distribution and is restricted to montane forests in many areas. It forages in the canopy and middle levels of the forest and joins mixed-species feeding flocks outside the breeding season. There are three subspecies: "C. n. nigrifrons" occurs from central Kenya southwards through Tanzania to northern Malawi. "C. n. manningi" is found from the south-eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo to northern Zambia. "C. n. sandgroundi" occurs in southern Malawi, Mozambique, eastern Zimbabwe and north-eastern South Africa.