Helmetshrikes are the eight species of smallish to mid-sized African passerine birds in the genus Prionops. They were previously included with the true shrikes in the family Laniidae, later on split between several presumably closely related groups such as bushshrikes (Malaconotidae) and cuckooshrikes (Campephagidae), but are now considered sufficiently distinctive to be separated from that group into the family Vangidae.
Taxonomy
The genus Prionops was introduced in 1816 by the French ornithologist Louis Vieillot to accommodate a single species, “Le Geoffroy”, that had been described in 1799 by the French naturalist François Levaillant based on specimens collected in Senegal.[1][2] Levaillant did not coin a Latin name for “Le Geoffroy” but in 1809 George Shaw introduced the binomial name Lanius plumatus for Levaillant’s bird.[3] This species, the white-crested helmetshrike, is the type species of the genus Prionops.[4][5] The genus name combines the Ancient Greek πριων/priōn, πριονος/prionos meaning “a saw” with ωψ/ōps, ωπος/ōpos meaning “eye”.[6]
The genus contains eight species:[7]
- White-crested helmetshrike, Prionops plumatus – widely distributed in deciduous broadleaf savanna woodlands across sub-Saharan Africa
- Grey-crested helmetshrike, Prionops poliolophus – dry thornscrub of southwestern Kenya and western Tanzania
- Yellow-crested helmetshrike, Prionops alberti – montane forest of east-central Democratic Republic of the Congo and adjacent southwestern Uganda
- Red-billed helmetshrike, Prionops caniceps – west Africa
- Rufous-bellied helmetshrike, Prionops rufiventris – central Africa
- Retz’s helmetshrike, Prionops retzii – central Africa
- Gabela helmetshrike, Prionops gabela – western Angola (Gabela escarpment)
- Chestnut-fronted helmetshrike, Prionops scopifrons – east and southeast Africa
Description and ecology
This is an African group of species which are found in scrub or open woodland. They are similar in feeding habits to shrikes, hunting insects and other small prey from a perch on a bush or tree.
Although similar in build to the shrikes, these tend to be colourful species with the distinctive crests or other head ornaments, such as wattles, from which they get their name.
Helmetshrikes are noisy and sociable birds, some of which breed in loose colonies. They lay 2–4 eggs in neat, well-hidden nests.[8]
References
- ^ Vieillot, Louis Pierre (1816). Analyse d’une Nouvelle Ornithologie Élémentaire (in French). Paris: Deterville/self. p. 41.
- ^ Levaillant, François (1799). Histoire Naturelle des Oiseaux d’Afrique (in French). Vol. 2. Paris: Delachauchée. p. 124, Plates 80, 81.
- ^ Shaw, George (1809). General Zoology, or Systematic Natural History. Vol. 7, Part 2. London: Kearsley et al. p. 292.
- ^ Mayr, Ernst; Greenway, James C. Jr, eds. (1960). Check-List of Birds of the World. Vol. 9. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. p. 310.
- ^ Dickinson, E.C.; Christidis, L., eds. (2014). The Howard & Moore Complete Checklist of the Birds of the World (PDF). Vol. 2: Passerines (4th ed.). Eastbourne, UK: Aves Press. p. 212. ISBN 978-0-9568611-2-2.
- ^ Jobling, James A. “Prionops”. The Key to Scientific Names. Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Retrieved 27 March 2026.
- ^ AviList Core Team (2025). “AviList: The Global Avian Checklist, v2025”. doi:10.2173/avilist.v2025. Retrieved 27 March 2026.
- ^ Allan, D.G. (2009). “Family Prionopidae (Helmet-shrikes)”. In del Hoyo, J.; Elliott, A.; Sargatal, J. (eds.). Handbook of the Birds of the World. Vol. 14: Bush-shrikes to Old World Sparrows. Barcelona, Spain: Lynx Edicions. pp. 124–141. ISBN 978-84-96553-50-7.
External links
- Helmetshrike videos in the Macaulay Library
