Bushshrikes | Malaconotidae

Tsjagra's en bosklauwieren | Chagras y bubús

Shrike-like songbirds of scrub, thorn and forest edge, with a heavy hook-tipped bill and strong legs used to pin down large insects, lizards and nestlings. Unlike the true shrikes they rarely take an open perch; they shuffle through the densest part of the bush and are far more often heard than seen. Sound is the family's mark: clear whistled phrases that male and female interlock as a duet, timed so tightly that it sounds like one bird, in some species completed by a rasping or clicking answer from the female — a way of holding a territory and a pair bond from inside cover. The plumage ranges from plain black with white in the wing to green with a yellow, orange or deep red breast shield, and a number of species wear a black cap or a black mask; eye colour — yellow, red or white — is a usable character in several genera. Male puffbacks raise a thick white cushion of down over back and rump in display flights, so that the bird appears to float above the branch as a ball, with a clicking wingbeat. The nest is a small shallow cup of twigs and rootlets in a fork, often so thin that the eggs show through from below; the flight is short and heavy, from bush to bush.