Bush-shrikes (Malaconotidae)

Green-breasted Bush-shrike (Malaconotus gladiator) - HBW 14, p. 89

French: Gladiateur à poitrine verte German: Grünbrustwürger Spanish: Gladiador Pechiverde
Other common names: Cameroon Mountain/Gladiator/Cameroon Bush-shrike

Taxonomy: Laniarius gladiator Reichenow, 1892, Buea, Mount Cameroon, Cameroon.
Closely related to M. cruentus and the superspecies formed by M. blanchoti, M. monteiri and M. lagdeni. It has been argued that present taxon, restricted to W Cameroon and extreme SE Nigeria, is no more than a colour morph of M. monteiri, an Angolan near-endemic of questionable occurrence in W Cameroon, and, conversely, that a specimen and two sightings of M. monteiri from Mt Cameroon and Mt Kupé relate to colour varieties of present species. Monotypic.

Distribution: SE Nigeria (Obudu Plateau and Cross River National Park) and W Cameroon (Bamenda-Banso Highlands, Bakossi Mts, Mt Kupé, Mt Nlonako, Rumpi Hills, Dikume Balue, and Mt Cameroon above Bonenza and Buea).