Pygmy Batis Batis perkeo - some photos and notes

Pygmy Batis Batis perkeo

Bogol-Manyo Road, Ethiopia
January 2016

The Pygmy Batis is distributed from southern Ethiopia and Somalia to northern Tanzania. See the distribution map at Birdlife International. It is found in semi-arid acacia bushland.

Photos 1 and 2 are of a male while photo 3 is of a female showing a rufous-tawny breast-band. It is only slightly smaller than Grey-headed Batis B. orientalis but the female breast-band is a lighter hue and there is also a hint of buff on the throat.

According to the excellent "Eponym Dictionary of Birds" by Bo Beolens, Michael Watson and Michael Grayson, Perkeo was a Tyrolean dwarf who, in 1720 was the court-jester of the Elector Palatine Karl Philipp. He was notorious for his massive capacity for wine. "Perkeo" is supposedly derived from the Italian "perché no" meaning "why not", his reply whenever asked if he wanted another glass of wine.

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