Bushshrikes and Allies

The bushshrikes are small to medium-sized passerine birds. They were formerly classed with the true shrikes in the family Laniidae, but are now considered sufficiently distinctive to be separated from that group as the family Malaconotidae, a name that alludes to their fluffy back and rump feathers.

Like their other shrike-like relatives the helmetshrikes, the bushshrikes have arisen in Africa in relatively recent times. The family is largely endemic to sub-Saharan Africa but with one species (black-crowned tchagra) north of the Sahara in Morocco to Tunisia; they are completely absent from Madagascar, where the vangas are their closest relatives. They are found in scrub or open woodland, and less often in marshes, Afromontane or tropical forest. They are similar in habits to shrikes, hunting insects and other small prey from a perch on a bush. Although similar in build to the shrikes, these tend to be either colourful species or largely black; some species are quite secretive.