Southern Boubou ( Laniarius ferrugineus, family: Malaconotidae)

southern boubou kruger national park birds The Southern Boubou (Latin name Laniarius ferrugineus) is described in Roberts Birds of Southern Africa, 7th Edition. This bird has a unique Roberts number of 736 and you will find a full description of this bird on page 697 also a picture of the Southern Boubou on page 752. The Southern Boubou belongs to the family of birds classified as Malaconotidae. According to the Percy FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology the Southern Boubou is also known by these other names: African Boubou.

The map of the Kruger you see on this page shows the areas (coloured orange) where this bird has been identified. The basic information was provided by the Avian Demographic Unit based at UCT and I created the maps from that information ... the green dots show the locations of the various Kruger National Park Rest Camps

Endemic species is one that is confined to a specific country or region. For example certain birds endemic to South Africa only exist in that country. One such example is the Southern Boubou and this species depends upon a particular habitat for survival. Destroy that habitat and the bird will possibly be lost forever.

In terms of distribution of the Southern Boubou in the Kruger National Park you may not see it in all areas. Southern Boubou : see above distribution map.

Kruger Park Southern BoubouIdentification assistance for this avian species ...

The Southern Boubou is a smallish bird but somewhat larger than a house sparrow. The height of the Southern Boubou is about 22 cms and its weight is about 60 gms

You will find that the male Southern Boubou plumage and colours are different to that of the female Southern Boubou

  • Head is black.
  • Eye is black.
  • Bill is black.
  • Throat is white.
  • Back is brown.
  • Legs are grey.

This bird has normally proportioned leg length.

Main diet items for this bird ...

The Southern Boubou feeds on the ground and in foliage mainly

Invertebrates

Fruits

Breeding and nesting habits for this bird ...

The Southern Boubou is monogamous unless its mate dies. In the event of a partner dying Laniarius ferrugineus will seek out a new mate

The nesting habit of Southern Boubou is to create the nest in branches of a tree or shrub. The bird lays eggs which are brown in colour and number between 2 to 4

Habitat and flocking behaviour for this bird ...

The preferred habitats for Southern Boubou are: woodlands and grasslands

You will not see Southern Boubou in flocks. The bird prefers to act singly or in pairs.

Names of this avian species in other languages ...

Xhosa ... Igqubusha

Zulu ... iBhoboni/iGqumusha

Afrikaans ...Suidelike Waterfiskaal

German ... Fltenwrger

Portuguese ... Picano-ferrugneo

French ... Gonolek boubou

Dutch ... Waterfiskaal

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For in-depth birding information please refer to these authoritative avian references ...

Robert's 7th edition number ... 736

The main reference source for this data was "Roberts - Birds of Southern Africa, 7th Edition" . Other references were "Newmans Birds of the Kruger Park" by Keith Newman published circa 1980 . Names in foreign languages were obtained from the Percy Fitzpatrick Institute of African Ornithology, University of Cape Town website , www.fitzpatrick.uct.ac.za