Mystery bird: Ethiopian catbird, Parophasma galinieri

Abyssinian catbird, Parophasma galinieri (protonym, Parisoma Galinieri), also known as the Ethiopian catbird or as the juniper babbler, photographed at the Bale Mountains, Ethiopia (Africa).

Image: Dan Logen, 2 February 2011 [velociraptorize].
Nikon D300s, 600 mm lens, ISO 800, f/6.3, 1/200 sec

Question: Today's mystery bird is an Ethiopian endemic, meaning that it is found nowhere else in the world. Interestingly, this species -- one of which where paired males and females sing a duet -- has the reputation for being the finest songsters in all of Africa ... mighty high praise! It's also the only species in its genus. Can you identify this species?

Response: This is an Abyssinian catbird, Parophasma galinieri, which is endemic to the Ethiopian highlands. This monomorphic species is identified by its overall greyish colour, white forehead, orange-red eyes surrounded by black and its orangish or chestnut-coloured belly and undertail coverts. But I like fingsaint's description for this species as a "robin with a slipped breast." Perhaps not surprisingly, this species has the reputation of being difficult to see.

However, it apparently is easily noticed when it sings because it has one of the finest songs in all of Africa. Unfortunately, despite much searching, I was not able to find a video or audio file of this species's song, but I did find this description: "The male, stretching his neck skyward and holding his wings out at the bend, vigorously produces a long clear ringing song: the female answers with a churring or purring note."

This species' taxonomy is poorly understood. It could either be a flycatcher or a babbler. Plumage characters suggest that the Abyssinian catbird is a babbler whose nearest relative may be the bush blackcap, Lioptilus nigricapillus, found in the thickets and forests of eastern South Africa. Personally, I would not give much credence to plumage character evidence without any DNA work to confirm it, since we all are familiar with the power of convergent evolution!

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