Gorgeous Bush-Shrike

FORAGING & FOOD: Forages mainly in dense, tangled vegetation, or on ground beneath, where it whisks through leaf litter like a thrush^1,10. In dense vegetation, works its way upwards, searching for and darting after prey¹. Most foraging done within 2 m of ground, but in secondary forest or dense woodland, may ascend to mid-stratum level, gleaning from trunks, branches and leaves¹⁰. Sometimes hawks aerial prey¹. Eats mostly arthropods, incl beetles (adults and larvae), ads, larvae and pupae of moths and butterflies (both smooth and hairy), parasitic wasps, and spiders¹. 1 bird from nw Zambia had 4 mm seed in stomach, so may occasionally eat small fruits^3,4,11. Zulu people reported to early settlers that this sp occasionally ate small birds caught in snares², but no subsequent evidence for predation on vertebrates.

Author:TB Oatley