Orange-breasted Bush-Shrike ( Telophorus sulfureopectus, family: Malaconotidae)

orange breasted bush shrike kruger national park birds The Orange-breasted Bush-Shrike (Latin name Telophorus sulfureopectus) is described in Roberts Birds of Southern Africa, 7th Edition. This bird has a unique Roberts number of 748 and you will find a full description of this bird on page 701 also a picture of the Orange-breasted Bush-Shrike on page 721. The Orange-breasted Bush-Shrike belongs to the family of birds classified as Malaconotidae. According to the Percy FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology the Orange-breasted Bush-Shrike is also known by these other names: Sulphur-breasted Bush-Shrike.

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 Orange-breasted Bush-Shrike is neither Endemic or near Endemic to the Kruger National Park. It is however a common resident

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

The Orange-breasted Bush-Shrike.

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 Orange-breasted Bush-Shrike is an extremely small bird about half the size of a house sparrow. The height of the Orange-breasted Bush-Shrike is about 19 cms and its weight is about 27 gms

The male and female Orange-breasted Bush-Shrike have the same plumage and colours

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

This bird has normally proportioned leg length.

Main diet items for this bird ...

The Orange-breasted Bush-Shrike feeds on the ground mainly

Invertebrates

Breeding and nesting habits for this bird ...

The Orange-breasted Bush-Shrike is monogamous unless its mate dies. In the event of a partner dying Telophorus sulfureopectus will seek out a new mate

The nesting habit of Orange-breasted 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 1 to 3

Habitat and flocking behaviour for this bird ...

The preferred habitats for Orange-breasted Bush-Shrike are: woodlands . The Orange-breasted Bush-Shrike is also at home in wetland and bushveld areas.

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

Names of this avian species in other languages ...

Xhosa ... Unknown

Zulu ... uHlaza

Afrikaans ...Oranjeborsboslaksman

German ... Orangewrger, Orangebrustwrger

Portuguese ... Picano-de-peito-laranja

French ... Gladiateur soufr

Dutch ... Oranje Bosklauwier

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

Robert's 7th edition number ... 748

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