Black-fronted Bush-Shrike ( Telophorus nigrifrons, family: Malaconotidae)

black fronted bush shrike kruger national park birds The Black-fronted Bush-Shrike (Latin name Telophorus nigrifrons) is described in Roberts Birds of Southern Africa, 7th Edition. This bird has a unique Roberts number of 749 and you will find a full description of this bird on page 703 also a picture of the Black-fronted Bush-Shrike on page 721. The Black-fronted Bush-Shrike belongs to the family of birds classified as Malaconotidae.

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

The Black-fronted Bush-Shrike is neither Endemic or near Endemic to the Kruger National Park.

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

Identification assistance for this avian species ...

One of the first indicators to take note of when trying to identify a bird is it relative size. For example how big is the bird compared to a well known familiar bird. The Black-fronted Bush-Shrike is an extremely small bird about half the size of a house sparrow. The height of the Black-fronted Bush-Shrike is about 19 cms and its weight is about 35 gms

You will find that the male Black-fronted Bush-Shrike plumage and colours are different to that of the female Black-fronted Bush-Shrike

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

This bird has normally proportioned leg length.

Main diet items for this bird ...

The Black-fronted Bush-Shrike feeds on the ground, and on the wing mainly

Invertebrates

Breeding and nesting habits for this bird ...

The Black-fronted Bush-Shrike is monogamous unless its mate dies. In the event of a partner dying Telophorus nigrifrons will seek out a new mate

The nesting habit of Black-fronted Bush-Shrike is to create the nest in branches of a tree or shrub. The bird lays eggs which are green in colour and number between 2

Habitat and flocking behaviour for this bird ...

The preferred habitats for Black-fronted Bush-Shrike are: forests and heavily treed regions

You will not see Black-fronted Bush-Shrike in flocks. The bird prefers to act singly or in pairs.

Names of this avian species in other languages ...

Xhosa ... Unknown

Zulu ... Unknown

Afrikaans ...Swartoogboslaksman

German ... Schwarzstirn-Buschwrger

Portuguese ... Picano-de-testa-preta

French ... Gladiateur front noir

Dutch ... Reichenow-Bosklauwier

First bird in list | Previous bird viewed | Next KNP bird | Last bird in list

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

Robert's 7th edition number ... 749

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