Platysteiridae – Wattle-eyes & Batises

Platysteiridae is a family of small, stout passerines of the African tropics. The family contains the wattle-eyes and batises. They were previously classed as a subfamily of the Old-World flycatcher family Muscicapidae. Several shrike-flycatchers used to be considered part of this group, but is now considered to be part of Vanga family.

The Platysteiridae are arboreal birds, primarily of the woodlands and forests of sub-Saharan Africa. The family is restricted to mainland Africa and the surrounding islands. The genus Dyaphorophyia are birds of dense forest, the rest of the wattle-eyes are found in woodland, and the batises range across all habitats except the densest forests of the Congo Basin and the driest deserts.

Yellow-bellied Wattle-eye Platysteira concreta	Black-necked Wattle-eye Platysteira chalybea
White-tailed Shrike Lanioturdus torquatus (aka Ground Batis)	Angolan Batis Batis minulla
All photographs in this text courtesy of Dubi Shapiro

These small to medium-sized passerines are restless insectivores. Even while sitting and waiting for prey to fly by or appear on a nearby branch, they fidget as though anxious to take off on another flight. Batises are the larger-headed of the two main groups in this family, and the wattle-eyes all bear brightly coloured wattles above or around their eyes. The White-tailed ‘Shrike Lanioturdus torquatus is much like a large, stocky batis, running on the ground with long legs though dry woodlands and scrub in southwestern Africa. Many platysteirids make an array of strange sounds when alarmed or in display, including grunting, croaking, bill-snapping, and clicking noises made with their wings.

West African Wattle-eye Dyaphorophyia hormophora (M)	West African Wattle-eye Dyaphorophyia hormophora (F)
Chestnut Wattle-eye Dyaphorophyia castanea	Black-throated Wattle-eye Platysteira peltata

The Pririt Batis and Pygmy Batis are able to live in highly arid environments with some cover, and the White-fronted Wattle-eye favours mangrove forests in Angola. Many species in the family have adapted to human altered habitats. The family has its highest diversity around the equatorial regions, with half the known species being located in Tanzania and almost half also ranging in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Kenya.

Chinspot Batis Batis molitor

Brown-throated Wattle-eye Platysteira cyanea

The family is overwhelmingly sedentary. However, some batis species undertake season migrations as well as some local movements due to changing local conditions. These insect-eating birds are found in usually open forests or bush. They hunt by fly-catching, or by taking prey from the ground like a shrike. The nest is a small neat cup low in a tree or bush.

White-fronted Wattle-eye Platysteira albifrons

Short-tailed Batis Batis mixta

One species, the Banded Wattle-eye, is considered threatened by human activities. The species has a restricted range in Cameroon that is vulnerable to forest clearance and is listed as endangered by the IUCN. Two further species are considered near-threatened, the Gabon Batis and the White-fronted Wattle-eye; both species are threatened by habitat loss. Some species are also very poorly known, and one species, the Dark Batis, was only identified as a full species fairly recently (2006).