Black-crowned Tchagra ( Tchagra senegalus, family: Malaconotidae)

brown crowned tchagra kruger national park birds The Black-crowned Tchagra (Latin name Tchagra senegalus) is described in Roberts Birds of Southern Africa, 7th Edition. This bird has a unique Roberts number of 744 and you will find a full description of this bird on page 692 also a picture of the Black-crowned Tchagra on page 752. The Black-crowned Tchagra belongs to the family of birds classified as Malaconotidae. According to the Percy FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology the Black-crowned Tchagra is also known by these other names: Black-headed Tchagra, Black-headed Bush-Shrike, Black-crowned Bush-Shrike.

The map of the Kruger you see on this page shows the areas (coloured orange) where this bird has been identified ... the green dots show the locations of the various Kruger National Park Rest Camps

The Black-crowned Tchagra is neither Endemic or near Endemic to the Kruger National Park. It is however a common resident

In terms of distribution of the Black-crowned Tchagra in the Kruger National Park you may not see it in all areas. Black-crowned Tchagra : see above distribution map.

Kruger Park Black Crowned TchagraIdentification assistance for this avian species ...

The Black-crowned Tchagra is a smallish bird but somewhat larger than a house sparrow. The height of the Black-crowned Tchagra is about 23 cms and its weight is about 53 gms

The male and female Black-crowned Tchagra have the same plumage and colours

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

This bird has normally proportioned leg length.

Main diet items for this bird ...

The Black-crowned Tchagra feeds on wing mainly and eats insects

Breeding and nesting habits for this bird ...

The Black-crowned Tchagra is monogamous unless its mate dies. In the event of a partner dying Tchagra senegalus will seek out a new mate

The nesting habit of Black-crowned Tchagra is to create the nest in branches of a tree or shrub. The bird lays eggs which are white in colour and number between 2 to 4

Habitat and flocking behaviour for this bird ...

The preferred habitats for Black-crowned Tchagra are: woodlands and grasslands

You will not see Black-crowned Tchagra in flocks. The bird prefers to act singly or in pairs.

Names of this avian species in other languages ...

Xhosa ... Umnguphane

Zulu ... umNguphane

Afrikaans ...Swartkroontjagra

German ... Senegaltschagra

Portuguese ... Picano-assobiador-de-coroa-preta

French ... Tchagra tte noire

Dutch ... Zwartkruintsjagra

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

Robert's 7th edition number ... 744

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