Batises and wattle-eyes | Platysteiridae

Batissen en lelogen | Batis y ojicarunculados

A diverse, purely African family of small, big-headed, short-tailed, flycatcher-like birds with a broad, flattened bill ending in a small hook. Wattle-eyes (Platysteira, Dyaphorophyia) have a conspicuous eye-wattle, a ring of bare, brightly coloured skin around the eye that is red, blue or green depending on species. Batises (Batis) are grey, black and white, often with a yellow or orange iris. Males usually wear a black breast band and females a chestnut one, so the sexes are easy to tell apart. The White-tailed Shrike (Lanioturdus) of Namibia and Angola is a long-legged, ground-feeding outlier. The family takes insects by sallying from a perch or by gleaning leaves and twigs. A distinctive feature is the loud wing-clapping or 'frrrt' sound produced in display flights and when alarmed. Calls are simple, repeated whistles, in batises often a descending series of two or three notes. The nest is a tiny cup densely bound with spider silk and decorated with lichen, set on a branch in forest or savanna woodland.