Red-faced mousebird
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Coliiformes
Family: Coliidae
Genus: Urocolius
Species:
U. indicus
Binomial name
Urocolius indicus
(Latham, 1790)

The red-faced mousebird (Urocolius indicus) is a species of mousebird or coly. It is a common in southern Africa from Zaire, Zambia and Tanzania south to the Cape. Its habitat is savanna with thickets, fynbos scrub, other open woodland, gardens and orchards.[2]

There are a total of five recognized subspecies:[3]

  1. Urocolius indicus mossambicus (Distribution: east Angola to southwest Tanzania and Malawi)
  2. Urocolius indicus lacteifrons (Distribution: western Angola, north & central Namibia and western Botswana)
  3. Urocolius indicus pallidus (Distribution: southeast Tanzania and northeast Mozambique)
  4. Urocolius indicus transvaalensis (Distribution: Central and eastern Botswana and southwest Zambia to Mozambique and South Africa)
  5. Urocolius indicus indicus (Distribution: south and central South Africa)

This bird is about 34 cm (13 in) long, with the tail comprising approximately half the length.[2] The crested head and breast are pale cinnamon with a red bill and eye mask. The rest of the upperparts and tail are blue-grey apart from a paler grey rump. The belly is whitish. The sexes are similar, but juveniles lack the crest and have a green mask. Their call is tree-ree-ree whistle, and regularly called in multiple repetitions.[2] Red-faced mousebirds make the same call whether in-flight or perched.[2]

The red-faced mousebird is a frugivore which subsists on fruits, berries, leaves, seeds and nectar.[2] Its flight is typically fast, strong and direct from one feeding area to another.

This is a social bird outside the breeding season, feeding together in small groups, normally of about half a dozen birds, but sometimes up to 15 or more. They fly and interact in tight collections.[2] It engages in mutual preening and roosts in groups at night. It is more wary than other mousebirds.

These sedentary birds breed between June and February. The nest is a large untidy cup of plant material lined with material such as sheep wool. The clutch is 2–6 eggs, creamy white with reddish brown spots and hatch in about two weeks.[4]

References

  1. ↑ BirdLife International (2016). "Urocolius indicus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2016: e.T22683796A95211592. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22683796A95211592.en. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Newman, Vanessa (2010). Newman's Birds of Southern Africa. Cape Town, South Africa: Pippa Parker. p. 274. ISBN 9781770078765.
  3. ↑ Gill, Frank; Donsker, David, eds. (2023). "Mousebirds, Cuckoo Roller, trogons, hoopoes, hornbills". World Bird List. 13.2. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
  4. ↑ Fry, C. Hilary; Urban, Emil K.; Keith, Stuart (2020). The Birds of Africa; Volume III. Bloomsbury Publishing. pp. 244–245. ISBN 9781472986535.
  • Ian Sinclair, Phil Hockey and Warwick Tarboton, SASOL Birds of Southern Africa (Struik 2002) ISBN 1-86872-721-1
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