While at the Savannah Lodge near Kidepo Valley NP in northeastern Uganda, I walked the grounds with my guide, William. He spotted a small bird in a large bush and I couldn't get my camera to focus on it. I finally put the camera on manual, instead of automatic focus, and was able to get some good photos through a small window in the bush. I believe I saw both a female (initially) and a male (later) western black-headed batis, also known as Von Erlanger's batis. There are two ssp and I saw the nominate ssp erlangeri found from north Cameroon to Ethiopia, south to Uganda, west Kenya and Burundi.
It is described as flycatcher-like and shrike-like with contrasting black, gray, white and some rufous. The male has a black crown and mantle; a white superciliary stripe extending to the hindneck; a black mask from the lores back to the nape; blackish scapulars; uppertail coverts, wing, tail; whitish rump, wingstripe, auxiliaries; and yellow iris. The female differs from the male by having a maroon instead of a black breastband. It has a very small entry on Wikipedia and on Birds of the World and only 371 photos and 2,437 observations on Birds of the World.
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| Female |
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| Male |
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| Illustration of female from Birds of the World. |
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| Illustration of male from Birds of the World. |
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| Range from Birds of the World. |
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