Bush-shrikes (Malaconotidae)

Northern Puffback (Dryoscopus gambensis) - HBW 14, p. 96

French: Cubla de Gambie German: Gambia-Schneeballwürger Spanish: Cubla del Gambia
Other common names: The Puffback, Common/Gambian Puffback/Puffback-Shrike

Taxonomy: Lanius gambensis M. H. C. Lichtenstein, 1823, Senegambia.
Considered to form a superspecies with D. pringlii, the two being very alike in plumage and having parapatric ranges (some sympatry in S Ethiopia). In E range, size decreases clinally from N (Sudan) to S (Itombwe); race erwini rather poorly differentiated, sometimes subsumed in malzacii. Five subspecies recognized.

Subspecies and Distribution:

gambensis ( M. H. C. Lichtenstein, 1823) - extreme S Mauritania and Senegambia E to W Cameroon and Gabon.
congicus Sharpe, 1901 - SW PRCongo, SW DRCongo and NW Angola (Cabinda).
malzacii ( Heuglin, 1870) - E Cameroon, S Chad, Central African Republic, SW Sudan, NE DRCongo, Uganda, W Kenya, Rwanda, N Burundi and NW Tanzania.

See all 5 subspecies

gambensis ( M. H. C. Lichtenstein, 1823) - extreme S Mauritania and Senegambia E to W Cameroon and Gabon.
congicus Sharpe, 1901 - SW PRCongo, SW DRCongo and NW Angola (Cabinda).
malzacii ( Heuglin, 1870) - E Cameroon, S Chad, Central African Republic, SW Sudan, NE DRCongo, Uganda, W Kenya, Rwanda, N Burundi and NW Tanzania.
erythreae Neumann, 1899 - Eritrea, Ethiopia and E Sudan (Sennar).
erwini Sassi, 1923 - Itombwe, in E DRCongo.