About Cossypha heuglini Hartlaub, 1866
The white-browed robin-chat (Cossypha heuglini Hartlaub, 1866) measures 19–20 cm (7.5–7.9 in) in length and weighs 29–51 g (1.0–1.8 oz). Adults have a black crown and face, with a white supercilium stripe above the dark brown eye. The back is olive grey-brown, and the rump is rufous. The two central tail feathers are olive-brown, while the rest are orange-rufous. Flight feathers and wing coverts are grey-brown, and underwing coverts are rufous. The underparts are bright orange-rufous. The beak is black, and the legs can be pinkish-brown, brownish grey, or dark brown. Females are slightly smaller than males. Juveniles have a brown head with rufous-brown markings on the back, a pale throat, pale orange-buff breast, and pale orange belly. This species’ distribution spans Angola, Botswana, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Gabon, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, Somalia, South Africa, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. It inhabits riverine forests, thickets, and gardens. In East Africa, it can be found at elevations up to 2,200 m (7,200 ft) above sea level; south of the Limpopo River within its range, it generally occurs below 1,000 m (3,280 ft). In KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, its range expanded southward between the 1950s and 1970s, but damage from a 1987 tropical cyclone may have halted this expansion. The white-browed robin-chat’s diet includes ants, termites, beetles, other insects and arthropods, frogs, and fruits, and it bathes in water.
