Pygmy Batis
Batis perkeo
The Pygmy Batis (Batis perkeo) is a rare wattle-eyes and batis found in 5 countries, weighing about 7 g. The pygmy batis is a very small insectivorous bird which finds its food foraging among leaves, it is a member of the wattle-eyes family, the Platysteiridae.
About the Pygmy Batis
The pygmy batis is a very small insectivorous bird which finds its food foraging among leaves, it is a member of the wattle-eyes family, the Platysteiridae. It occurs in the dry savannahs of north-eastern Africa.
Text adapted from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
How to identify it
The pygmy batis, as its name suggests, is a tiny, rather dumpy but dapper black, white and grey bird with similarities to the flycatchers. The male has a bluish-grey head and back with a contrasting black face mask and short white supercilium above the yellow eye. The rump and lower back are spotted with white and the rump feathers are relatively long giving a fluffy appearance. It has black wings which have a broad white strip formed by the broad white edges to feathers of the median and greater coverts, and the inner secondaries and tertials. Voice: The main call of the pygmy batis is a ling series of repeated sharp high pitched whistles.
Where it lives
When to see it
The Pygmy Batis can be seen all year round, with peak activity in November. It is a resident species across most of its range.
Easily confused with
Quick questions
- How do you identify a Pygmy Batis?
- The pygmy batis, as its name suggests, is a tiny, rather dumpy but dapper black, white and grey bird with similarities to the flycatchers. Full identification notes are on this page.
- How big is a Pygmy Batis?
- The Pygmy Batis is a tiny sized bird weighing about 7 g.
- Where can you see a Pygmy Batis?
- The Pygmy Batis occurs in 5 countries, including Kenya, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Uganda and Somalia.
- What birds look similar to a Pygmy Batis?
- The Pygmy Batis is most easily confused with the Pale Batis, the Western Black-headed Batis and the Rwenzori Batis.
- Is the Pygmy Batis endangered?
- The Pygmy Batis is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List.
Learn the Pygmy Batis for real
BeakBrain drills you on photos and calls until you can greet this bird by name in the field. Free to play, on any device.
Play BeakBrainEvery photo and recording on this page is credited to its author under the licence shown. Spotted a problem with this page, or have a better photo? Contribute.