Ceblepyris graueri
The Grauer's Cuckooshrike (Ceblepyris graueri) is a medium-sized passerine bird, measuring approximately 19-20 cm in length and weighing around 30 grams. Males are characterized by a dark slate-grey plumage, slightly paler on the belly, with a distinctive black mask that extends across the lores and around the eye, sharply contrasting with a striking creamy-white iris. Their wings and tail are blackish. Females are very similar, often only subtly paler. This species belongs to the cuckooshrik...
Found exclusively in primary Afromontane moist evergreen forests, typically at elevations between 1200 and 2400 meters, though occasionally ranging lower or higher.
Primarily insectivorous, feeding on a variety of insects and their larvae, which it gleans from forest foliage and branches.
Grauer's Cuckooshrike is a diurnal species, generally secretive and often heard rather than seen within the dense forest canopy. Its primary foraging strategy involves gleaning insects and their larvae from the foliage and branches, predominantly in the mid-canopy and understory layers. While usu...
The Grauer's Cuckooshrike is strictly endemic to the Afromontane forests of the Albertine Rift, a region spanning East-Central Africa. Its distribution is highly fragmented and confined to specific montane forest blocks within eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), western Uganda, Rwanda, an...
Vulnerable
- Grauer's Cuckooshrike is one of the most enigmatic birds of the Albertine Rift, with much of its biology still poorly known due to its elusive nature and dense habitat. - It is named after Rudolf Grauer, an Austrian explorer and zoologist who collected the first specimen in the early 20th centu...