Senegal batis

He used the French name Le gobe-mouche à poitrine rousse du Sénégal and the Latin Muscicapa Senegalensis pectore rufo.

[2] Although Brisson coined Latin names, these do not conform to the binomial system and are not recognised by the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature.

[3] When in 1766 the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus updated his Systema Naturae for the twelfth edition, he added 240 species that had been previously described by Brisson.

[6] The Senegal batis is a restless flycatcher-like small bird with the distinctive black, white and grey colours and plumage patterns which are typical of the batises.

Adult females are overall paler than males with dusky grey brown forehead and crown, a buff supercilium and nape patch and a black face mask, browner wings and a russet breast band, as well as rufous ting to the chin and upper throat.

[8] The Senegal batis inhabits low dry thorny scrub, sparsely treed grasslands and woody savannahs, including open acacia and baobab woodlands.

[7] The Senegal batis maintains a territory throughout the year which the male patrols daily, sitting on high open perches and singing.

If intruders are seen then the male undertakes and aggressive display which involves an upright stance with the bill held vertically, the breast and crown feather fluffed out, swinging his rear end while jerking his tail.