helmet-shrike

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helmet-shrike

bird

Also known as: Prionopidae

Written and fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

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helmet-shrike, (family Prionopidae), any of nine species of African songbirds (order Passeriformes) characterized by a forwardly directed crest on the forehead. Several Prionops species, often called red-billed shrikes, were formerly separated in the genus Sigmodus. They are about 20 cm (8 inches) long. In all species the plumage is predominately gray, white, and black, accented in some with rufous or buff. The bill is slender and hooked at the tip.

Unlike the more typical shrikes (family Laniidae), with which they are united by some authorities, helmet-shrikes travel in parties of a dozen or more birds, which move through forest vegetation chattering, bill-snapping, fluttering, and gleaning insects. They also breed socially, a single nest often being attended by all of the adults in the flock.