Woodhoopoes (Phoeniculidae)
Common Scimitarbill (Rhinopomastus cyanomelas) - HBW 6, p. 433
French: Irrisor namaquois
German: Sichelhopf
Spanish: Abubilla-arbórea Cimitarra
Other common names: (Greater) Scimitarbill
Taxonomy: Falcinellus cyanomelas Vieillot, 1819, Orange River, north-western Cape Province.
Genus often merged into Phoeniculus. Present species forms a superspecies with R. aterrimus; these two are sometimes considered conspecific, intergrading in S Angola and SE Zaire, with hybridization also documented, but elsewhere (e.g. W Zambia) they appear ecologically separated; morphological and vocal differences also suggest they are probably better treated as separate species. Birds from Zimbabwe, S Mozambique and E South Africa (Transvaal, Zululand), described as intermedius, now regarded as inseparable from schalowi. Two subspecies currently recognized.
Subspecies and Distribution:
- schalowi Neumann, 1900 - W Uganda, W & C Kenya and S Somalia S to Zambia and W Natal.
- cyanomelas (Vieillot, 1819) - SW Angola and Namibia E to Transvaal.
- Least Concern Enlarge map
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A bird perched on a high branch Locality Augrabies Falls National Park, Northern Cape Province, South Africa (ssp cyanomelas)
Helmut Schenkel Brunner 31 July 2003 4 years ago 25 sec 3.9 -
A male foraging and probing for food in the crevices on tree branches Locality Victoria Falls, Matabeleland North Province, Zimbabwe (ssp schalowi)
Greg Baker 14 September 1999 12 weeks ago 43 sec 3
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A bird with a captured larva.
Locality Kruger National Park, South Africa (ssp cyanomelas)
Fran Trabalon 27 October 2008 47 weeks ago 3.9 -
An adult bird preening to reveal underwing.
Locality Serengeti National Park, Serengeti, Tanzania
M P Goodey 1 February 2007 43 weeks ago 3.5 -
A bird on a spiny bush
Locality Etosha National Park, Kunene Region, Namibia
Aleix Comas 26 August 2007 2 years ago 3.3 -
Adult looking for food in the trunk of a tree.
Locality Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park (Kalahari Gemsbok NP), Northern Cape Province, South Africa (ssp cyanomelas)
Carmelo López 6 December 2010 1 year ago 3.3 -
Hunting
Locality Etosha National Park, Kunene Region, Namibia
Lindsay Hansch 22 September 2007 1 year ago 3 -
Adult bird feeding
Locality Mokala National Park, Northern Cape Province, South Africa (ssp cyanomelas )
Loutjie Steenberg 21 October 2010 1 year ago 1.8
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Call. Roy's Camp. 50km NW from Grootfontein. Locality Grootfontein, Otjozondjupa Region, Namibia
(ssp cyanomelas)
Charles Hesse 19 November 2009 2 years ago 3
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