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| Bokmakierie | |
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Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Family: | Malaconotidae |
| Genus: | Telophorus |
| Species: | T. zeylonus |
| Binomial name | |
| Telophorus zeylonus (Linnaeus, 1766) | |
| Synonyms | |
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Thebokmakierie (Telophorus zeylonus) is a bushshrike. This family ofpasserine birds is closely related to the trueshrikes in the family Laniidae, and was once included in that group. This species isendemic to southernAfrica, mainly inSouth Africa andNamibia, with an isolated population in the mountains of easternZimbabwe and westernMozambique.
It is a species of open habitats, includingkaroo scrub,fynbos and parks and gardens in urban areas. The bulky cup nest is constructed in a hedge, scrub or tree fork. The 2–6, usually three, red-brown or lilac-blotched greenish-blue eggs are incubated by both sexes for about 16 days to hatching, with another 18 days to fledging.
The adult bokmakierie is a 22–23 cm long bird with olive-green upperparts and a conspicuous bright yellow tip to the black tail. The head is grey with a yellowsupercilium, and the strong bill has a hooked uppermandible. The underparts are bright yellow with a broad black collar between the throat and breast, which continues up the neck sides through the eye to the bill. The legs and feet are blue-grey. The sexes are similar, but juveniles are a dull grey-green below, and lack the black gorget.
There are four subspecies, differing mainly in colour shade and size. Although the species as a whole is not threatened, the isolated dark subspeciesrestrictus in the Chimanimani Mountains numbers only about 400 birds.
The bokmakierie has a range of loud whistles and calls, often given by a pair in antiphonal duet, but the most typical is the one that gives this species its name,bok-bok-mak-kik.Levaillant called itbacbakiri based on the local name derived from its call.[2] The Dutch settlers called it bokmakierie.[3][4]
Unlike the true shrikes, which perch conspicuously in the open, the bokmakierie is shy andskulking. This bird has a typical shrike diet of insects, small lizards, snakes, small birds and frogs. It is preyed upon itself by snakes,mongooses, and large shrikes like thenorthern fiscal andsouthern boubou.
