Fülleborn's boubou facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Fülleborn's boubou
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Malaconotidae
Genus:	Laniarius
Species:	L. fuelleborni
Binomial name
Laniarius fuelleborni (Reichenow, 1900)
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The Fülleborn's boubou (Laniarius fuelleborni) is a special kind of bird. It belongs to a family of birds called Malaconotidae, which are often known as bushshrikes. You can find this bird in countries like Malawi, Tanzania, and Zambia.

It likes to live in places with lots of trees and plants. This includes wet mountain forests, thick bushes, areas where forests meet open spaces, and even bamboo groves. The bird is named after a German doctor named Friedrich Fülleborn.

Bird Family Tree

Scientists group living things into categories. This helps us understand how different animals are related. The Fülleborn's boubou was once thought to be the same species as the mountain sooty boubou (Laniarius poensis). This group also includes the albertine sooty boubou (Laniarius holomelos) and Willard's sooty boubou (Laniarius willardi).

However, the Fülleborn's boubou has different feathers when it's young. It also looks and sounds different from those other birds. Recent studies of their DNA (genetic studies) show they are related but are not the same species. The Fülleborn's boubou also looks a bit like the slate-colored boubou (Laniarius funebris). But these two birds live in different parts of the forest and eat different things.

What Does It Look Like?

The Fülleborn's boubou is a medium-sized bird. It grows to be about 18 to 20 centimeters (7 to 8 inches) long. Both male and female birds look very similar.

Adult birds are a bluish-grey color, like slate. Their head, wings, and tail are blacker and look a bit shiny. Their belly is a dark slate-grey. The underside of their wings is dark brown. They have brown or reddish-brown eyes, and their beak and legs are black.

Young Fülleborn's boubous look different. Their upper parts are brownish-black with faint buff spots and no shine. Their belly has stripes of buffy greyish-black. They get their adult feathers when they are about six or seven weeks old. This bird does not fly often. When it does fly, its flight looks a bit slow and heavy.

How Common Is It?

The Fülleborn's boubou lives across a very large area. It is described as a common bird, meaning there are many of them. The number of these birds seems to be staying steady. Scientists have not found any major threats to this species. Because of this, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has listed it as a "least-concern species". This means it is not currently in danger of disappearing.