Rufous-bellied Helmetshrike (Prionops rufiventris) | Photos and ID

LCLeast ConcernInvertebrates

ForestSmall · 50 g

Rufous-bellied Helmetshrike (Prionops rufiventris), photo 1 — Photo: Rafael Würtemberger · CC BY 4.0

Rufous-bellied Helmetshrike (Prionops rufiventris), photo 2 — Photo: Rafael Würtemberger · CC BY 4.0

Rufous-bellied Helmetshrike (Prionops rufiventris), photo 3 — Photo: Dan Riley · CC BY 4.0

ID tip

It is 20–22 cm long. The adult has glossy black upperparts and throat and reddish-brown underparts with a narrow white breastband. The top and sides of the head and the chin are pale blue-grey and there are bushy whitish feathers on the forehead. The wings are broad and rounded with a white band across the primaries. The bill, legs and feet are orange-red and the eye is yellow with a bare orange-red ring around it. The eastern subspecies P. r. mentalis has darker underparts and a grey-brown eye.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

When to see the Rufous-bellied Helmetshrike

One bar for each month, and every month is filled: this bird is recorded here in all twelve. The wide bar is February, the month with the most records.

Where to see the Rufous-bellied Helmetshrike

Regular range

The map shades 8 countries with regular records. Everything unshaded has no records. Countries are listed below the map.

Gabon Uganda Congo - Kinshasa Equatorial Guinea Congo - Brazzaville Nigeria Cameroon Central African Republic

About the Rufous-bellied Helmetshrike

The rufous-bellied helmetshrike or Gabon helmetshrike is a passerine bird belonging to the Vanga family, Vangidae. It inhabits tropical forest in Central Africa. It is sometimes included within the chestnut-bellied helmetshrike of West Africa.

Text adapted from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Easily confused with

Gabela HelmetshrikePrionops gabelaThe Gabela helmetshrike is a species of bird in the Vanga family Vangidae, formerly usually included in the Malaconotidae. Yellow-crested HelmetshrikePrionops albertiAdults are generally all black with a bright yellow or gold crest (sometimes described as a "helmet"), with the yellow extending across the entire top half of the head above the eyeline and extending backwards behind the eye.

Grey-crested HelmetshrikePrionops poliolophusThe gray-crested helmetshrike is a species of bird in the Vanga family Vangidae, formerly usually included in the Malaconotidae.

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