356 Muscicapidae: flycatchers and batises

in Mopane. Evergreen forest and alien vegetation are rarely used. Movements: It is generally considered to be sedentary. The models show a post-breeding decrease in reporting rates during summer in the east (Zones 5–8), which is probably associated with seasonal variations in calling frequency, especially as the decreases in the east correspond with the post-breeding period of moult, and show the same staggered pattern from north to south as do the breeding data. Breeding: The season is clearly defined; it has a summer peak and the onset is not synchronous throughout the range: it begins earliest in the north (August in Zone 5), becoming progres- sively later to the south (November in Zone 8). This pattern could be a function of temperature and is confirmed by egglaying data from Kwa- Zulu-Natal (Dean 1971), the Transvaal (Tarboton et al. 1987b) and (Irwin 1981). Interspecific relationships: It is a member of a superspecies (Hall & Moreau 1970) with the other flycatchers. In southern Africa these are the Cape B. capensis, Woodwards’ B. fratrum, Pririt and Batises. They are all eco- logically separated from the Chinspot Batis in the style of a classic superspecies; two of them are forest species, so scarcely interact with the others, and the Pririt and Mozambique Batises, wood- land species, geographically replace the Chinspot Batis to the drier west and moister east respec- tively. Historical distribution and conservation: The Transvaal (Tarboton et al. 1987b) and Natal (Cyrus & Robson 1980) atlases show patterns very similar Chinspot Batis to the current data. In the eastern Cape Province, the range Witliesbosbontrokkie boundary has not moved from the vicinity of Somerset East (3225DA; Skead 1967b) in 30 years. The Chinspot Batis Batis molitor is not threatened.

The Chinspot Batis is common over most of the eastern D.N. Johnson and northeastern parts of southern Africa. It ranges from the eastern Cape Province in the vicinity of Port Elizabeth (3325DC), eastwards through KwaZulu-Natal and eastern Swaziland, over most of the Transvaal and Zimbabwe, and Recorded in 1556 grid cells, 34.3% through eastern and northern to the Caprivi Strip Total number of records: 23 611 in . Further west, in the northern half of Namibia, Mean reporting rate for range: 30.7% it becomes rarer and localized. It avoids the higher parts of the Drakensberg escarpment. Further north it is wide- spread to 3°N, although absent from the rain forests of the Zaire Basin (Hall & Moreau 1970). The two subspecies in the atlas region have continuous ranges (Clancey 1980b). The male is difficult to distinguish from the males of the Pririt B. pririt and Mozambique B. soror Batises, but the Reporting rates for vegetation types species overlaps only marginally with those species; the % 02550 females are distinctive. The species’ presence is often re- vealed by its diagnostic three-note call. The atlas records 47.1 can be considered accurate. Arid Woodland 39.6 Habitat: The range corresponds almost exactly with a Moist Woodland 39.6 combination of all the major woodland types, except most E Zimbabwe Highlands 38.8 of the Kalahari where it is replaced by the . In Okavango 34.6 the eastern Cape Province and KwaZulu-Natal, it is espe- Mopane 31.0 cially associated with Acacia spp., and Skead (1967b) con- East Coast Littoral 24.1 sidered it typical of valley bushveld, thornveld and karroid Northern Kalahari 17.3 brokenveld. Further north it is equally at home in miombo Valley Bushveld 16.7 and broadleaved woodlands. It is frequently found in thick- Sweet Grasslands 4.0 ets. Winterbottom (1971c) described it as ‘not uncommon’ Nama Karoo 3.7 Muscicapidae: flycatchers and batises 357

14û

CHINSPOT BATIS 5 1 18û

22û 2 6

26û

3 7 30û Reporting rate (%) > 47.4 25.0 — 47.4 2.0 — 24.9

< 2.0 34û 4 8 18û 22û 26û 14û 30û 10û 34û

40 40 1 5 20 20

40 40 2 6 20 20

40 40 3 7 20 20

40 Occurrence reporting rate (%) 40 4 8 Breeding reporting rate (%) 20 20

J ASONDJ FMAMJ J ASONDJ FMAMJ Models of seasonality for Zones. Number of records (top to bottom, left to right): Occurrence: 357, 6, 0, 5, 3669, 4897, 2265, 620; Breeding: 3, 0, 0, 0, 50, 66, 44, 15.